Dragon King of Fairy Tail
by XDarkRider
Summary: Natsu Dragneel has had a dark past, but with a guild like Fairy Tail anyone could put them aside and move on, Natsu was no exception. But the past has a very mischievous way of returning unexpectedly. Can Natsu overcome his darkness or will he let it consume him. Nali towards the end
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This story has been on my mind for a while now. And just to note this will be a Nali fic, however there wont be much romance until later on; but I will add a hint here and there but not much, so just bare that in mind.**

**Also an important note, this is an AU but I am going to try and keep everyone in character with the exception of the three dragon slayers, reasons will be revealed soon enough.  
**

**Now then, remember to review and tell me what you think**

* * *

One millennium has passed since he was crowned Dragon King, and through his reign the dragons ruled the world, however with a swift of fate a dragon decided to oppose his rule and make peace with the humans; conflict broke out between the dragons and so came the day of their civil war. Four hundred years since he took the blood of his fellow dragons; but because of the foolishness of the dragons on the human side, they created the destruction that brought the end to his kind; lingering alone he lived in hiding his hatred for humans building up as years come and go; until he met a little girl cast away by her fellow people. She had an unusual personality that he couldn't understand, no matter how much she was shunned, she continued to love the human race and through her influence she diminish his rage; he taught her magic and she taught him how to love. Eighteen years has passed since he lost all his powers. And now, he stands tall, filled with confidence as a Fairy Tail guild member, his name was Natsu Dragneel.

It was finally that time of the year; the S-class mage advancement exam. The Fairy Tail guild was in an uproar of excitement. Everyone gathered by the stage waiting in anticipation for the Master to announce the candidates for the exam. Natsu was looking around as if scouting out his potential competitors. Master Makarov stepped forward, the guild fell to silence,

"In accordance with Fairy Tail's oldest traditions, from here on out, I will announce the S-class mage advancement examinees!" screams and shouts of glee and excitement filled the guild, "This year's testing ground is Tenrou Island; it's our guilds holy ground!" sounds of awe filled the guild, "Your powers, hearts, spirits; I've been observing them for the past year" Makarov continued as the hall quieted down, "the eight participants will be…. Natsu Dragneel"

"Alright!" Natsu called out,

"Gray Fullbuster"

"Finally this day has come" he responded with big grin,

"Juvia Loxar"

"eh? Juvia?" surprised by the masters nomination, Juvia looked towards her beloved Gray with worried eyes,

"Elfman"

"Those that are men become S-Class!" he shouted out, a big smile plastered on his face,

"Cana Alberona" the girl remained silent looking depressed upon hearing her nomination,

"Fried Justine"

"The one who will succeed Laxus will be…" he trailed of but a look of confidence overwhelmed his facial features,

"Levy Macgarden"

"I finally made it" she whispered to herself, proud of herself to be able to be nominated for such an important event,

"And Mest Glider" while the man remained silent, whispers and calls echoed at the mention of his name,

"This year there will only be one winner" Makarov said as the crowed quieted once more, "the exam will be in one week. Everyone, be in the best condition that you can be in". All the contestants looked at each other smiling and smirking at one another, "since there are newcomers, I will explain the rules. The chosen eight will choose a partner within the week of preparation" Erza stepped forward next to the Master,

"there are two rules in choosing a partner. One is that they must be a Fairy Tail member; and the second is that they cannot be an S-Class mage" she finished off.

"Yes, and the selected eight and their partners will meet at the Hargeon harbor in one week's time; that is all" Makarov concluded.

There was one last cheer before everyone was dismissed. Some guild members were disappointed that they weren't nominated while others were excited about this year's nominees, some even making bets at who would become an S-Class mage.  
Natsu and Co sat around a table discussing their plans for the exams. Natsu in particular was literally jumping up and down from his seat in excitement; Lisanna was by his side trying to calm him down. Elfman sat by his little sister looking completely dejected; after all looking at the competition as well as the hinted possibility that he would be facing S-Class wizards only made him more and more nervous,

"speaking of which have any of you decided who your partner is going to be?" Lucy asked the group,

"Happy is my partner of course" Natsu replied,

"aye!" was the cats response as he stood next to Natsu,

"eh? What about me Natsu" Natsu whipped his head over to Lisanna who stared at him with a cute pout, "did you forget about me?"

"Lisanna? Well… you see… I…." at lost with words Natsu flung his arms around panicked, face completely red; Lisanna could only giggle at his reaction,

"I'm only kidding" she responded with a laugh, "you are too cute when you panic like that" Natsu looked away embarrassed; everyone could only laugh at his reaction,

"Juvia wants to decline her nomination" the water girl said in a gloomy voice, Wendy who sat beside her looked surprised,

"why?" she asked her, blushing Juvia gazed towards Gray who merely sat looking completely oblivious,

"Juvia wants…" she began mumbling, Lucy merely grinned before moving in closer to Gray,

"she wants to be in your team" she whispered to him, Juvia jumped up and pointed an accusing finger towards Lucy,

"see I knew you were after him!" she called out; Lucy merely sweat dropped, Gray however remained passive,

"sorry but I've already decided on my partner" he announced, seconds later Loki approaches from behind. There were many reactions to his sudden appearance; as many shouted out in cries of surprise, Natsu slipped away and out of the guild; as he walked away his heart began to burn up, clenching his chest it became difficult for him to breath,

"it's almost time" he mumbled to himself, memories flooded his mind, the horrible images of his own kin slaughtering one another, the smell of corpse burning filled his nostrils; suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder he quickly turned around,

"Lisanna" he muttered to himself, he's always wondered if his life would be different if he had never met her, would he have been able to open up to the rest of Fairy Tail? Or would he have continued to live in isolation, a small smile formed on his lips, over he was glad that things are the way they are,

"What's with that smile?" she asked, Natsu turned away and began walking back to his house,

"no reason" he called out giving her his signature grin,

"hey wait!" Lisanna chased after him, "come on, you can tell me" they happily walked along side one another, not a care for the world, only that everything was going to be okay; for now.

* * *

On the day of the exam everyone had gathered at the port, the candidates were all excited and determined. Natsu however looked incredibly terrified; he eyed the ship that would take them to their destination and just by imagining the movements made him sick to the stomach. He watched as everyone began boarding, he looked back at the remaining guild members and spotted Romeo giving him a look of pity. Taking a deep breath he stepped onto the boat and prepared for the worst, and to his surprise it was alright; he didn't feel sick at all. Smiling and shouting out in victory he ran around the deck to take in the strong breeze of air, everything was alright. Then the ship set sail and Natsu immediately collapsed to the ground in agony. Happy stood next to his body and began poking him with a stick,

"you alright Natsu?" the cat asked, he was responded with nothing but the sounds of groaning, Lisanna and Lucy approached them,

"looks like he needs to rest for the trip, otherwise he's going to be lagging behind the rest of us" Lisanna responded while poking Natsu's cheek,

"how long has he had motion sickness?" Lucy asked, Lisanna looked up and pondered,

"for as long as I've known him he's been like this" Lucy looked back,

"you sure it's just Natsu?" Lisanna peaked behind her and saw the other two dragon slayers collapsed under the influence of the moving boat; Lucy was surprised, this was the first time she has seen Wendy like this, Carla was standing by her fanning her with cool air. Gajeel leaned over the railing with Levy grabbing onto his shirt so he wouldn't fall overboard.

The rest of the group sat peacefully under the sun, taking this opportunity to relax, some were making plans on how they should tackle the exam; others were comparing their abilities and discussing tactics.

Hours have passed and the ship was approaching its destination. The island was in sight, it gave of a magnificent aura that captivated everyone onboard. The ship stopped, and almost immediately the three Dragon Slayers jumped up, standing tall and strong,

"Alright!" Natsu called out, "let's do this", Makarov stood up swinging a fan across his face,

"listen up, before we begin, I will explain to you the details of the first exam" he shouted out, everyone gathered around him paying close attention to his words,

"you see smoke rising from that beach right?" he said pointing out towards the island, everyone turned to search for where what the Master was speaking of, and there it was a trail of smoke coming from the distance, "first head in that direction, there are eight paths, only one group can enter each path" a board appeared behind the Master, "and here is what waits for you behind each path" a map of eight paths branching off, appeared on the board, many questions were being asked as they saw the contents,

"Only the teams that clear this will be able to progress to the next exam" Makarov explained, "in the battle routes two teams will meet up and only the winning team will be able to proceed; the Hard battle routes you will have to defeat a S-rank mage in order to proceed. And the quiet route is where you can proceed without having to fight anyone" looking back down at the teams Makarov gave them all a stern look, "the goal in the first part of the exam is power and luck!" everyone was surprised by the declaration, especially considering the fact that they may have to encounter Erza or Gildarts.

"Now, Let's Begin! Let the Exam start!" Almost immediately, Gray and Loke jumped into action ready to jump over the ledge of the ship, but only to come into impact of an invisible barrier,

"What!" Gray shouted, everyone stood surprised as they looked up at Fried and Bixlow flying towards the island at high speeds,

"Don't worry the runes will disappear after five minutes" Fried shouted out, however to everyone's surprise Natsu and Happy were flying side by side with the Rune Master.

"too bad you weren't fast enough" Natsu said with wide grin, "we'll meet you guys on the island!" he called out to them before speeding off.

* * *

The two landed safely on the beach, Natsu felt a strong magical energy lingering in the air, one all too familiar, he smiled inwardly,

"it has been a long time hasn't it" he said quietly to himself, and there it was, a light tremor in the air echoed around him, responding to his words. Natsu's smile grew wider,

"then I hope we can meet soon" he looked up at the eight paths opened out for them, A to H; Natsu's grin widened with mischief and pointed at one specific path,

"That one Happy" he exclaimed to his partner, "E! that one must be E for Erza"

"why would you want to face Erza!" Happy shouted in horror,

"because I want to beat her of course" Natsu responded as if he was pointing out the obvious, he started running towards the cave,

"Wait for me Erza!" he shouted as he charged in, the entrance behind him sealing off. Unknowing to Natsu that history would soon repeat itself.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm trying out a different style of delivering plot; and here Natsu will be very OOC, other than that there isn't really much to say except to remember to review**

* * *

The pathway was dark, but Natsu and Happy continued on their way through the narrow path. Natsu was excited, knowing very well that he had picked a good path, one that would ultimately test his skill to the max. He was literally laughing to himself like a maniac at the thought of being able to defeat Erza. Happy walked quietly next to him doubting everything Natsu was claiming he would do, though he had complete confidence in his best friend, he just didn't think he would be able to win that easily.

Finally coming to an opening Natsu and Happy looked around, searching for any traces of their opponent or lack of opponent fully knowing they may have picked the quiet path. However the opening soon began to light up and in the middle stood their opponent. Natsu grin widening jumped forward,

"Erza! It's time to settle this!" he called out; however soon the room became brighter and there stood someone they had least expected, Gildarts.

Happy jumped up in surprise, all confidence he had in Natsu was completely thrown out, after all this was Gildarts they were about to face, the strongest mage of Fairy Tail. Natsu on the other hand was getting excited; this was better than he had expected, he was finally able to prove his strength to the strongest, smiling he stepped forward flames engulfed his fists,

"oh Natsu" Gildarts said with a small smile, "looks like you got unlucky"

"not at all" was Natsu's reply, "I think I'm the most lucky out of everyone else" charging in with fists held high, Natsu eagerly began the fight. Gildarts knowing fully of what Natsu was capable of got into a stance, readying himself for any incoming attacks. Natsu threw in one of his stronger punches making impact with the surface of Gildarts palm as he caught his fist; however what he didn't expect was a jet of flames ignited and blasted its way through hitting Gildarts in the face. Jumping back Natsu had on a serious face, one that truly meant he means business,

"don't hold back on me Gildarts" he called out; the smoke vanished and there stood the strongest mage of Fairy Tail slightly burnt from Natsu's flames. Happy stood by the side looking completely in awe, he didn't expect Natsu to even breech Gildarts defenses, but at this point he was cheering on for Natsu; Gildarts grinned at the Dragon Slayer,

"you know me Natsu, I don't like to hold back; now show me if you are S-class material" was his response. Jumping back into action Natsu trying to use his speed to the advantage sped around his opponent, and began attacking in all directions; however Gildarts easily blocked every one of his attacks and even snuck in a couple counter attacks elbowing Natsu in the jaw; jumping up his foot engulfed into flames and delivered an over head kick; realizing that it wasn't any ordinary kick, Gildarts brought both of his arms to block it while even destroying the ground beneath him to cushion the impact, but even then the force behind the attack was too strong; gritting his teeth Gildarts held his ground but what he didn't expect was another jet of flames blast through; jumping back he could only smile at how powerful Natsu had become. Standing up Natsu grinned in triumphant, but he wasn't done just yet taking a deep breath inhaling as much air as possible,

"Fire Dragons Roar!" a blast of powerful flames erupted from Natsu's mouth towards Gildarts; standing completely still Gildarts brought out one hand and stopped the flames, using his crash magic he disintegrated the flames followed by an explosion, Natsu surprised by the sudden technique was engulfed by the attack,

"Natsu!" Happy called out in horror, Gildarts also realizing his mistake quickly retracted his attack but was too late; a dust of smoke was all that was left, Happy began to tear up realizing what had just happened, clearing up there was nothing left but the crater on the ground,

"don't let your guard down Gildarts" came a voice; completely taken by surprise Gildarts looked down and just barely avoid Natsu's blazing uppercut, Happy on the sidelines was could only cheer in delight that his friend was okay, now the two stood face to face. Gildarts started to laugh,

"good, good" he said, "you exceeded my expectations Natsu" he looked into Natsu's eyes, "but that wasn't your full power was it" he claimed, Natsu could only grin,

"I don't know what you're talking about" was his response,

"Natsu, you're a very bad liar" Happy commented,

"Happy, I'm trying to look cool!" Natsu burst out, "and what do you mean I'm a bad liar?" Gildarts laughed at the outcome,

"regardless, you have proven yourself Natsu, you pass the first exam" Happy jumped up in joy;

"I refuse to except that" Natsu exclaimed, "I won't except that kind of victory; I will only accept victory when I beat you down!" Gildarts sighed,

"I expected that reaction from you, very well" he took a stance "from here on out I will not be holding anything back" and as he said those words an unbelievable amount of energy began to swirl around him, Gildarts released a colossal amount of magical energy that blasted through the roof of the cave, Happy completely terrified by it backed away fully expecting Natsu to do the same, however that was not the case; Natsu stood completely still, unfazed by the massive amount of energy, he stared into the menacing eyes of the mage in front of him. Gildarts was taken back but not surprised, he had a suspicion that Natsu was hiding something, and now was the chance to test his theory. Natsu stepped forward as did Gildarts, both brought up their fists and charged at one another. Both attacking one another at high speeds, Happy had a very difficult time keeping track of their fists. Finally standing face to face once more they charged at one another and before either of them knew they both delivered a hard punch to each other's cheeks. Both were now lying quietly on the floor; Happy could only stare disbelieving at what just unfolded,

"you have powerful eyes Natsu" Gildarts said, "ones that have seen the world; is there something you're not telling me" Natsu stared up at the open sky, he remained silent for a moment reminiscing all the events that have happened to him in his previous life,

"it's a long story" was his reply, "maybe I'll tell it to you after the exam"

"I'll be looking forward to it" both had the biggest grins plastered on their faces; although their battle was short, it was a battle the two of them would remember,

"so, does this mean I fail?" Natsu asked, surprising Happy,

"I already said you passed didn't I" Gildarts responded, "now go, and become an S-class mage".

* * *

Sitting outside amongst the rest of the contestants who passed was kind of refreshing for Natsu; Happy was standing by his side asking many questions regarding his fight with Gildarts; his only response to the blue cat was a grin and a wink indicating to him he would tell him later. Natsu looked around; there was Lucy and Cana, Levy and Gajeel and looking into the distance he could see Gray and Loke; smiling inwardly things were about to become very interesting. Makarov casually walked towards the group looking at the reaming examinees,

"now then, is this everyone?" he said, "Cana and Lucy defeated Fried and Bixlow in a 'battle' route and passed" Gray jumped in surprise and the announcement,

"Natsu and Happy overcame Gildarts" now everyone looked at the pink haired dragon slayer in shock,

"Levi and Gajeel were lucky enough to get through the quiet route" Gajeel looked incredibly unhappy with the result,

"Gray and Loke defeated Mest and Wendy in another 'battle' route" then Makarov's face morphed into a look of horror, Gray jumped,

"what's with that face?" he asked, Makarov turned around,

"Juvia and Lisanna encountered her…" he started, "the female knight that doesn't know how to hold back" everyone had a look of pity for the duo,

"and finally Elfman and Evergreen…" Makarov started but was interrupted,

"Wait!" a call from the distance, Elfman and Evergreen walked towards them completely beaten up, Makarov looked at them surprised,

"well then, in that case Elfman and Evergreen have gotten past Mirajane" he concluded, "so now let us begin the second part of the exam!" everyone cheered, eager to continue, "your objective is to find the first Master, Mavis Vermilion's grave; you have six hours" he looked at everyone, "Begin!" everyone grabbed their belongings and ran in different directions. Natsu and Happy ran ecstatically around the forest beating up every beast that approached them. However with the sudden spike of dark energy in the air catching Natsu's attention; his eyes widened, looking around in search for the source, he tracked it west from his position,

"let's go Happy!" he called out,

"what's wrong Natsu?" the Exceed asked,

"don't you sense it?" Natsu began, "that dark aura" Happy chook his head,

"no, don't feel anything" Natsu's eyes narrowed; rushing through the forest his mind was in turmoil, if it was truly who he thought it was, things would become difficult; there it was again the spike of dark energy, but this time it was stronger as if ready to burst out; eyes widening he saw Elfman and Evergreen standing in front of a man who looked like he was in agony,

"Happy stay down" he instructed, in response Happy descended downwards; Natsu leaped forward grabbed hold of Elfman and Evergreen and pushed them down just barely avoiding the blast of energy.

"Natsu?" Elfman called out, however Natsu ignored him, rather he was staring intensely at the man in front of them, looking left and right indifferent, the trees around them all withered away; everyone else was horrified at what such dark energy could do,

"why are you here?" he asked, the man recovering from his aching head looked up at Natsu, and began to tear up,

"Natsu?" he whispered out, everyone looked between the two individuals, "I'm so glad to see you" he said with a small smile,

"everyone get as far away as possible" Natsu instructed, they all began to protest, "Now!" never before have they seen Natsu this serious before, but with a look like that they knew they shouldn't question him,

"will you be alright Natsu?" Happy asked, Natsu looked down at him with a grin and a thumbs up. As everyone had left, with Elfman saying he would go get help; Natsu stood up a stern look overcoming his features,

"why are you here Zeref".

* * *

The two of them stood in silence, neither daring to move a muscle, the so called dark mage Zeref had a solemn look, while the dragon slayer Natsu remained passive,  
"It's been a long time hasn't it" Zeref started,

"yeah…" was Natsu's response, "you shouldn't be here, not at this time anyways"

"I guess what you say is true" the dark mage whispered to himself, "but it's time you fulfill your promise" Natsu's eyes widened a bit, before looking down,

"not yet…" Zeref was surprised by his response,

"what do you mean? Surely after all these years you have recovered your power" Natsu eyed the mage,

"I have my reasons, just trust me" Natsu responded, "after all that we've been through surely you can understand" Zeref wanted to protest, but accepted his response; his thoughts brought him back a couple centuries, a time where the world was at war; he could remember it, the flames that protected its allies and destroyed its enemies. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when an explosion sounded from the distance; both looked in the direction of the smoke, Natsu knowing something was wrong started running in its direction,  
"Natsu! Wait!" Zeref called out,

"don't worry! We'll meet again someday!" Natsu shouted out, "I guarantee it, so don't get caught!" and with that he disappeared into the distance, leaving the dark mage alone;

"I'll be waiting".


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here Wendy will be very OOC, I will try and retain as much of her character but mostly her personality will shift back and forth.**

* * *

He could see it in the far distance; a flying ship had docked itself next to the island, gritting his teeth Natsu sprinted towards its direction. But there was a sudden pulse of magic in the air, one that was ancient but all too familiar,

"God Slayer…" Natsu mumbled to himself, however to his displeasure the pulse was coming from a different direction, weighing his two options; he decided to just go towards the one that was closest.

* * *

Wendy never thought she would get into a situation like this, one moment she, Carla and Panther Lily were just admiring the scenery after she and Mest were defeated by Gray and Loke; the next she was being attacked by a group of mages who claimed they were from Grimoire Heart, and now they were surrounded, there was a rustle in the bushes behind them, and in came Happy bursting in with another group of Grimoire Heart mages in tow, Wendy looked around, including the ones Happy brought in she counted fifteen mages, and it was just them four, a dragon slayer and three Exceed's, Wendy smiled to herself a feeling of nostalgia crept around her; she knew the king forbid her from releasing her true power, but a little wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Happy, Carla, Lily" she whispered catching both their attention, "go get help, I will try and hold them off"

"what are you saying Wendy, you can't beat these odds!" Carla shouted "We should all try and escape"

"Carla is right we need to all escape" Lily responded, however Wendy remained passive, her smile never leaving her lips; and there was something Carla has never seen before, eyes filled with blood lust; it scared the Exceed to no end. For Wendy she was reminiscing events in the past, the scent of blood filled her nose, her smile turned into a wide sinister grin,

"Wendy!" Carla shouted out, the girl snapping out of her trance, looking down into the eyes of three rather frightened cats, their fear wasn't directed at the enemy rather at her,

"Carla…" she whispered, she messed up, she didn't think that by releasing some of her magical energy would result in her reverting back to her old self,

"please, just trust me" Carla looked at Wendy's determination, normally she wouldn't listen to her please in a situation like this, but there was something about her eyes that made it okay to leave her be, she didn't know what it was but she decided to trust her; she sprouting her wings and took off, Happy and Lily close behind her,

"be careful!" Carla called out,

"we will be back soon!" Happy shouted as well before the three cats flew off at high speeds. Now looking back at her fifteen opponents, she smirked, she could finally let loose without anyone seeing. They approached her, laughing amongst themselves at how easy this was going to be; Wendy flexed her wrists as the air pressure around her began to get heavier, the dark mages stopped in their tracks realizing the change in magical energy, Wendy's eyes grey wild, no longer were they the innocent ones of a little girl, no they were the eyes of a killer, an executioner. She sprinted forward into the crowed of enemies and with one swoop of an arm blew back a good number of them, the remaining foes stopped in their tracks and looked at their fallen comrades, what caught their eyes were the large gashes slashed across their chests and their clothes were soaked in blood, standing up straight Wendy turned to them with a menacing glare, she clenched her fist, and as she did so, the air around her fist began to shimmer sharply,

"shall we begin?" she said darkly, she let out a wave of powerful killing intent; the dark mages started to shiver in fear, however remained standing, slowly they all started to throw everything they got at Wendy, from fireballs to small daggers; however with simple sweep of an arm a strong gust of wind deflected all of their attacks, she smirked and with another swing a gale of wind blasted towards the Grimoire Mages knocking them back, bloodied and unconscious,

"interesting!" she heard a voice shout out from behind her, turning around she came face to face with a tall man with long bright yellow hair and wild red eyes,

"how about you and I have a little brawl" he said with a smirk, Wendy looked at him bored, she no longer carried the sinister smile, rather it was stoic,

"and you are?" she asked, the man laughed before answering,

"I am Zancrow of Grimoire Heart, the God Slayer" and as he said this his fists erupted into balls of black flames; Wendy's eyes widened in surprise, it has been a long time since she encountered someone with such magic,

"Is that so, well then Zancrow of Grimoire Heart, I refuse your offer; and if you would so kindly leave our sacred island that would be nice" Zancrow burst out laughing once more,

"leave? Can't do that, after all we're here to pluck off the wings of fairies" dropping down from the boulder he was standing on, he stood face to face with the young Dragon Slayer; Wendy got into a stance ready to fight her foe, however before she could react someone had come up behind Zancrow and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach sending him flying and into the rocks; Wendy eyed the figure that had entered so suddenly and smiled in delight when she recognized the man's pink hair,

"Natsu!" she called out, however the Fire Dragon Slayer didn't respond immediately rather he glared at the man he just kicked, he was silent for a couple of seconds before turning to Wendy,

"you released some of your power" he said, Wendy went cold, she didn't expect Natsu to realize so quickly,

"It… was... because…" she tried to make excuses,

"just be careful not to hurt anyone from Fairy Tail, you know how you are when you let loose" he responded knowingly, Wendy sighed in relief,

"now go inform the others" he instructed, "I will deal with things here" without hesitating the girl nodded and ran off into the woods leaving Natsu with the God Slayer.

"So you are the infamous Salamander" Zancrow shouted out as he stepped out of the rubble, "now, let us see who is the strongest!" and without a seconds notice he shot a jet of black flames towards Natsu; realizing the power behind the flame jumped out of the way, just barely dodging the attack,

"so you realized" Znacrow exclaimed, "I will give you credit for knowing the power of a God, to know that a mere Dragon Slayer cannot eat the flames of a god, but don't get full of yourself!" and with that another jet of black flames blasted its way towards Natsu; jumping to the side, he launched himself towards Zancrow fist ignited in a blazing orange flame,

"the one who shouldn't get full of themselves is you!" he called out, throwing his punch towards the God Slayer; blocking it, igniting his foot in black flames and kicked Natsu, however as if predicting the move the Dragon Slayer grabbed hold of the flaming leg with his empty hand; Zancrow was surprised by the stoic face Natsu possessed, almost as if he was completely ignoring the destructive power of the flame alone. Not even giving the God Slayer a chance to think Natsu stood his ground and flung him into a boulder,

"if you're going to fight me, you better not hold back" was all he said, before igniting his fists once more with blazing orange flames. There was a laugh, as Zancrow stood up from the crumbling rock,

"don't get cocky kid!" was his response, "if you're going to say that, then best me with your strongest flame!" he took in a deep breath,

"Fire God's Bellow!" a powerful blast of black flames shot towards Natsu who was taken by surprise could only attempt to block the attack; however the attacks force was too strong and he was sent off the edge of the cliff into the forest beneath.

* * *

Grabbing hold of some tree branches to try and break the fall Natsu fell feet first on the ground, he gritted his teeth and mentally slapped himself for letting such an attack catch him of guard. He looked around and his eyes widened,

"Gramps!" he called out, as he saw his fallen Master lying on the ground motionless, he quickly ran to his side, "Gramps, are you alright?" Makarov slowly opened his eyes,

"Natsu?" he managed to say, "what are you doing here?"

"don't mind that, we need to get you to Wendy, she can heal you" Natsu said, suddenly he heard another landing behind him, turning around and there stood Zancrow walking casually towards them and laughing like a maniac; grabbing hold of Makarov, Natsu placed him on the side next to a tree and away from the battleground,

"Natsu, wait! You cannot beat him" Makarov exclaimed, but Natsu ignored him, instead he too walked casually towards the God Slayer. Now fists ignited the two charged at one another and got into full out brawl, dealing lethal punches to one another, jumping back Zancrow morphed his flames into the shape of a scythe and started swinging, however Natsu easily dodged everyone of them, although the trees were not so fortunate as they were easily cut down,

"you're going to have to do better than that, God Slayer, I've seen better scythe technique handled by a little girl" Natsu called out, however Zancrow only laughed harder,

"sprouting nonsense when even your Master was defeated by our very own Master Hades" he said with a mischievous grin, "isn't that right Makarov", the Master of Fairy Tail looked down defeated,

"and who is this Master Hades?" Natsu asked,

"his real name is Purehito" Makarov responded, and with the mention of the name Natsu froze, his eyes widened, "he was the previous Master of Fairy Tail" Natsu started to shake, which went unnoticed by Zancrow who started to laugh once more,

"shaking in fear?" he said, "doesn't surprise me at all, after all, no one can match Master Hades power"

"Fear?" was Natsu's response, he looked up at Zancrow, eyes filled with pure rage, "no I'm shaking in pure anger" the God Slayer brushed it off and decided to finish things,

"Fire Gods Bellow!" and once more a jet of black flames blasted its way towards Natsu, who stood perfectly still, Makarov could only watch in horror, as Natsu was engulfed by the dark flames; Zancrow laughed in victory,

"Natsu!" Makarov cried out, attempting to crawl his way towards the Dragon Slayer. Suddenly they could hear the sound of swallowing; all eyes were on the pillar of flames as it slowly vanished into the stomach of the Fire Dragon Slayer,

"Impossible" Zancrow muttered out in disbelief, "you shouldn't be able to eat the flames of God!"

"is that so" was all Natsu said, Zancrow quickly formed what looked like a flaming mouth with both his hands he charged at the Fairy Tail mage,

"Last Supper of the Fire God!" and smashed both the flaming mouths on top of Natsu, "once you're trapped in between these flames, you are finished" Zancrow explained sinisterly; seconds past and not a single reaction came from the Fairy Tail mage, but once again the sound of Natsu swallowing the flames of God echoed in their ears,

"thanks for the food" he said, he then proceeded to glare fiercely at the God Slayer, "you seem to be claiming that your flames are for more superior to mine" Natsu's voice was dark and filled with hatred, but he then started to chuckle to himself,

"But I will admit the Flames of God are more powerful than your average flame; but to me your so called Flames of God are nothing" suddenly the energy around Natsu began to pulse, as a powerful aura erupted from him, all around the island people could feel the air dry up.

* * *

Far off into the distance a man with jet black hair and dark robes smiled at the familiarity of the burst of magical energy,

"Natsu, you really haven't changed" was all Zeref said before disappearing into the darkness of the forest. Wendy who finally caught up with Carla, Happy and Panther Lily, smiled at the aura, and breathed in the dry air that she missed. Back in camp, Gajeel who was heavily wounded also couldn't help but grin at the power being released,

"so you finally decided to get serious" the Iron Dragon slayer whispered. While everyone else was panicking at the sudden burst of magical energy unsure whether it was friend or foe.

* * *

Back with Natsu he started being engulfed by a pillar of blood red flames, Zancrow and Makarov were shocked by the sudden display of raw power,

"allow me to show you the strongest flame to ever exist in this world, The Flames of Hell" Makarov looked closely and noticed the difference between the flames Natsu normally produced and the ones now, besides the color being different the ones now was filled with pure destruction. Raising one hand towards Zancrow who continued to stand in shock, started to shake in fear,

"perish" and as Natsu said those words fire from his palms blasted its way towards Zancrow, the ground trembled as it made its way towards its target; Zancrow as a last attempt, tried to counter attack,

"Fire Gods Bellow!" but it was no use, the God Slayers attack was completely overpowered by the blood red flames as it swallowed its prey. Zancrow could only scream out in pain as it destroyed him; seconds passed and the flames diminished, leaving nothing in its path, not even the ashes of its victims. Makarov stared in complete awe at the power he just witnessed, he looked at Natsu who's aura started to die down as well; the Dragon Slayer walked towards his fallen Master and carried him on his back,

"Natsu…" Makarov muttered, "What was that power?" he asked;

"I'll tell you another time Gramps, right now I have some unfinished business" he responded as he started walking in the direction of their campsite,

"what are you talking about" Natsu's eyes flared up in fury once more,

"I'm going to make Hades pay".


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Because break is over for me, from this point on I will try to update weekly, but because of the amount of school work, this could change. ****But reviews are always nice, so keep them coming!**

**And thank you to all those who reviewed my last few chapters, it keeps me motivated**

* * *

Jogging towards the campsite, Natsu carried an unconscious Makarov on his back; it has been rather quiet for some time now, and while Natsu does enjoy peace and quiet once and a while, there was something incredibly wrong, not a single wild animal was in sight;

"Natsu!" a voice called from the distance, looking up he saw Happy flying towards them,

"Happy!" He shouted in glee, "is Wendy with you? Gramps needs medical attention" Happy nodded,

"follow me!" Natsu sighed in relief and chased after his friend. Soon he ran into an opening and met up with the Sky Maiden,

"Natsu-san!" Wendy cried out, Natsu placed Makarov gently on the ground; Wendy quickly went to work, her hands started glowing light green and began healing Makarov's injuries.

"did you manage to warn everyone else?" Natsu asked, Wendy shook her head,

"the camp seems to be abandoned" Lily explained, "there was even traces of a battle occurring"

"then the others should be somewhere on this island, with Grimore Heart running freely on the island, they could be fighting them, our only chances of finding them would be to listen for traces of a fight going on" Natsu explained,

"Natsu, when did you get so smart?" Happy asked,

"Happy! Don't ruin the moment" Natsu exclaimed, "and I've always been this smart"

"we don't have time to joke around" Carla scolded, "and Natsu's right, we should follow the sound of fighting otherwise we'll only be going around in a wild goose chase"; there was suddenly a smell in the air, causing Natsu to start sniffing around,

"what's wrong Natsu?" Happy asked,

"this smell is very familiar" he explained still sniffing around, "you guys stay here, I will be right back" with that he ran off.

* * *

Running through the forest, the smell was getting stronger and stronger, however because he was so focused on the smell he didn't even realize the edge in front of him; falling face flat he managed to grab onto a large leaf and use it as a cushion; what he didn't expect was that a simple leaf could also be considered as transportation, with his motion sickness kicking in, he was completely helpless. Falling further down the path only worsened the condition. After what seem like an eternity did he finally hit the bottom; crashing face first into the dirt, he quickly stood up trying to act as if nothing had happened. The source of the smell was close, he looked around when suddenly he sensed a pulse of magic coming from beneath him, jumping away a large tree sprouted from beneath the earth; and there it was, a woman sitting calmly on top of a tree branch looking down at him, he took another sniff of the air and confirmed it,

"so we meet again Natsu Dragneel" she said,

"so you're the one" he said, but raised a brow, "you like to cross dress or something?" the woman didn't really know how to respond to that,

"that was a disguise…" was her response,

"sure, whatever you say" Natsu said, "so who are you anyways?"

"my name is Ultear Milkovich one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory"

"is that so… in that case tell me" he pointed to the fallen body of Zeref who was rested on the tree trunk behind him, "what do you want him for"

"oh? Are you curious?"

"Kind of; but if you're going to rant about it then you can keep it to yourself" he took a closer look at Ultear, completely ignoring what the Grimore Heart Mage had to say; his eyes widened at the similarities she had with a certain woman from his past; images started flashing in his head, one particular image stood out from the rest, it was a memory of three kids, one was a young girl with short dark purple hair, the other had long golden blonde hair and the only boy of the trio possessed wild scarlet red hair; shaking his mind clear, he did manage to make out specific key words of Ultear's blabbering, Ultimate World of Magic and Zeref's Seal; all of which he has heard of a thousand times before, he only concluded that their intension was to revive Zeref's power and build a world that would wipe out all humans who could not use magic therefore creating what those fools called the Ultimate World of Magic; he chuckled to himself, he's heard of such a plan many times already but he knew full well that such an attempt would be impossible. His fists ignited into a brilliant orange flame,

"I have no idea what you were blabbering about, however what I do know is that you people attacked our guild and for that I will not forgive you" Ultear smirked,

"Then I think it is time I pay you back for what you did to me that time" an orb formed from her arm and danced around her; she flung it towards Natsu who easily dodged it, but was not expecting it to come flying back, hitting him clean on the back; staggering from the attack he pounced back onto his feat and charged up the tree, Ultear threw the orb in his direction once more and in response Natsu punched the object shattering it into tiny pieces, however the pieces suddenly reformed and only massed more orbs, now attacking from all directions Natsu jumped of the trunk and avoided the many attacks, dodging left and right he punched any orb that he couldn't dodge, however this only made things more difficult for him as they continued to multiply. Therefore, he jumped back and took in a deep breath,

"Fire Dragons Roar!" he breathed out a powerful jet of flames that consumed the mass of floating orbs, incinerating them completely, his eyes widened however as they just reshaped once more.

"my magic is the Time Arc, a lost magic that allows me to manipulate the time of an organic or inorganic item" Ultear explained, "you destroy it, I can just restore it"

Natsu responded by blasting a pillar of flames towards Ultear who dodged it by jumping off the branch she was sitting on, and was now standing face to face with the Dragon Slayer, "then all I need to do is defeat you" he charged towards Ultear ignoring all attacks being thrown in his direction, he threw out his fist, however was completely taken by surprise when he punched someone completely different, the man he attacked was huge and overweight but looked rather muscular, he has shaggy black hair and chalk white skin; Natsu stopped in his tracks and looked around,

"eh, Lucy what are you doing here" he asked as the girl who looked like was out of breath,

"Natsu!" Lucy called out in fright, "we have to stop them; they are trying to revive Zeref and bring an end to the world!"

"I know" Natsu then gave her his trademark grin "but all I need to do is beat them up right"

"I don't know about that, but it would help..." Lucy replied and was astonished but not surprised by Natsu's simple mind,

"Kain!" Ultear called out, grabbing the huge mans attention, "you keep them occupied; I need to bring Zeref back to Master"

"understood" he said, he turned to the duo pulling out a small doll and blocked their path to Ultear who carried Zeref on her back running off. Natsu stared at the man in front of him, a bored expression covering his features,

"Lucy stay back" he instructed,

"be careful, he uses that doll to attack his opponents" Lucy informed the Dragon Slayer, at this Natsu couldn't help but grin and laugh out loud,

"aren't you a little too old to be playing with dolls?" he asked, the man called Kain, looked at him in shock and completely insulted,

"how dare you insult me, just because of that I will show you the full power of Mr. Cursey!" he shouted out,

"you even named it?" Natsu commented, Lucy stood behind him in shock unsure at how she should react to his comments,

"you are seriously ticking me off!" Kain shouted, with that he pulled out what looks like a string of long golden blond hair, and attached it to the doll; Lucy looked completely surprised as she recognized it as her own hair,

"hey… you aren't seriously thinking of…" but she didn't get to finish as her own body started to move on her own and attack Natsu from behind; once again taken by surprise he was punched in the face,

"what are you doing Lucy!" he called out,

"I can't help it, my body is moving on its own!" she cried back, Natsu looked towards Kain and saw how he was moving the doll which mimicked Lucy's movements,

"I see… very interesting" he dodged Lucy's kick and jumped up vaulting over her head, igniting the soles of his feet he launched himself towards Kain and delivered a very fast kick towards the man's stomach who cried out unexpectedly, taking this opportunity Natsu grabbed hold of the doll and threw it in Lucy's direction who caught it,

"don't lose it" he said to the girl and turned back to the large man, "now that you don't have that doll you won't be able to use your magic" he said in triumphant, however Kain started to laugh as he recovered from the attack, he pulled out a second doll, at this Natsu face faulted,

"fool, I always keep a spare with me at all times" this time he plucked his own hair and attached it to the dolls head, and with a single snap he transformed the dolls material into iron causing his own body to also turn iron, Kain then started to charge forward and attacked Natsu;

"your annoying me" the Dragon Slayer said with a very sinister tone, and with one punch he sent the Grimore Heart mage flying off into the distance.  
Lucy stared in awe at how easily the Dragon Slayer defeated the dark mage,

"That was amazing Natsu!" Lucy cried out, and started jumping up and down in victory, but suddenly cried out in pain, Natsu rushed to her side,

"what happened?" Natsu asked,

"I think I may have sprained my ankle" she responded, Natsu knelt down on two feet,

"get on my back, I'll bring you to Wendy and the others; she can take a look at that ankle" hesitant at first but later climbed onto his back, the Dragon Slayer stood up carrying the Celestial mage and raced off towards the small group.

* * *

Happy was standing by Wendy as she healed Makarov, the blue exceed had a look filled with worry, but as Wendy stepped back with a smile did the blue cat finally sigh in relief knowing that the Master was going to be okay,

"the Master should be fine now, it should only be a matter of time before he wakes" Wendy said, the other two exceed also sighed in relief, there was a minute of silence before the only female cat stepped forward

"Wendy" Carla said catching the young girls attention, "what happened back there, you weren't yourself" Wendy bit the bottom of her lip, she knew this was coming and still had no idea whether or not to reveal things to her friend, but in the end she had to make a choice,

"it's complicated" she started, "but I will try my best to explain" she looked at the three exceed with a very serious face,

"the truth is, I am not exactly human" the others jumped in surprise,

"but you look human" Happy claimed, Wendy shook her head,

"this is only my human form, not my true form" she explained, Carla looked almost frightened to ask but went ahead and did so,

"then what is your true form?" Wendy looked up at the twilight sky, before looking back down at the three cats,

"I am the Sky Dragon".


	5. Chapter 5

**And here is chapter 5... yeah that's all there really is to say, except review and tell me what you think**

* * *

Silence; that was the best way to describe their reaction, they were, confused and outright surprised. Happy and Lily looked at one another not really knowing what to say;

"you mean Dragon Slayer, right Wendy?" Happy responded, the girl shook her head, memories of her horrific past returning,

"no, I don't mean Dragon Slayer" she said quietly "when I say dragon I mean a fully fledged dragon like… Grandine" Happy and Lily jumped in surprise, while Carla the ever so cautious one, noted the way Wendy hesitated at Grandine's name but didn't push it, rather she along with her fellow exceed was highly surprised by her close friends declaration.

"how is that possible, I mean, you've told me about your childhood many times" Carla said in a frantic voice, "and I know your mother was the Sky Dragon Grandine, but you've always said you were human!"

Wendy remained silent, she was collecting her thoughts, and once more images of blood and death flooded her mind; she could remember it, that terrifying cry of pain echoed in her ears,

"yes I am human, however I am also a dragon" Wendy explained,

"you aren't making much sense, how can you be both a dragon and a human?" Carla asked, Wendy paused again, trying to collect her thoughts together, she looked at the three Exceed with a darkened expression,

"It all happened four hundred years ago during a civil war between dragons; it was a ruthless war, friends and family all gone day by day, and when the humans joined the fray, things only got worst; I was a healer at that time, everyday countless bodies would be sent my way, and every day I would witness the death of another" Wendy glanced at her audience and noticed their awed states, listening very closely to her words, "the day came when I was asked to participate in battle"

"but I thought you were the healer, wouldn't it have been better for you to stay away from the front lines?" Lily asked, what he says is true, and Wendy agreed, but the sadness in her eyes told Lily that the scenarios were worst than he imagined if they couldn't afford decreasing their number of forces,

"we were outnumbered, and with my very own eyes I witnessed the horrors of the battle field" she could remember it as if it had only happened recently, the smell of dead bodies, the sound of cries and screams; everything was so clear in her mind, "it was on that day did I discover that for my very own survival I could not be soft, I had to be as ruthless as my enemies" as the three Exceed heard those words, they did not like where her story was headed, "I slaughtered thousands of people in that war, to the point where killing felt like a second nature to me"

"is that what happened back then?" Carla asked, Wendy nodded,

"I had a reminisce of my past, and my instincts started to take over" they sat in silence, and as time passed strong winds started to blow as the sky darkened; then Happy spoke up,

"but you haven't explained why you are dragon and human" eyes were all on the girl once more,

"dragons who are drenched in the blood of humans slowly take their form" Happy jumped up in surprise while Carla and Lily could only look shocked, "I died in that war, but when I was reborn, I awoke as a human with all my memories intact", and just as she spoke those words there was a sudden rustle coming from the bushes behind them; Wendy quickly stood up surprised, but when she saw a mop of pink hair, she relaxed, Happy flew towards Natsu who was carrying Lucy on his back,

"Natsu!" Happy cried out, "did you find what you were looking for?" Natsu nodded his head,

"I did, but they got away", he set Lucy gently on the ground, Wendy rushed over noticing the bruise on her ankle and began healing,

"did you gain weight Lucy?" Natsu asked, the blonde girl looked angrily at the Fire Dragon Slayer,

"what is that supposed to mean!" Happy stood next to her trying to suppress a laugh,

"Lucy, your becoming more and more overweight" he sneered, the girl started to cry a waterfall,

"how is the Master doing?" Natsu asked,

"he should be fine, just a little rest and he'll be back on his feet" and it was at that moment a man teleported right before them, Natsu raised a brow and walked towards him,

"where did you go you bastard!" he called out,

"this is Mest from the council?" Lucy asked,

"my real name is Doran-balt" he looked at Wendy who had a look of worry, "do not worry Wendy, I have come to help you guys; with my magic power I can transport all Fairy Tail members off this island"

"I refuse" Natsu responded almost immediately, Doran-Balt was taken aback by his response,

"Why do we have to accept help from the council?" Carla asked,

"yeah, our guild takes care of our own problems" Lily responded with a smile,

"That's not the point!" he tried to protest, "if HQ gets wind of what is happening on here they will attack the island"

"are they going to fire Etherion again!" Happy jumped frightened at what could happen,

"then we will settle things before that happens" Natsu replied calmly,

"Makarov's been beaten! There are even more terrifying mages in Grimoire Heart; you cannot win!"

"So what? Does that mean you should blow the island up?" the Dragon Slayer looked really bored with the conversation,

"This island is the sacred land of our guild, our First Master's grave is here too…" Wendy trailed off, tears were forming on the corner of her eyes,

"I don't believe this! If the council does that, it will be a disaster" Lucy responded to the situation,

"we came here to protect our guild" Happy said, all of them were frustrated with the council's actions,

"are you planning on going against them? You're just a mage guild!" Doran-Balt cried out, by this point Natsu was getting infuriated, he stepped up to the council member,

"Listen up; I don't care if its Grimoire Heart or the Council, it makes no difference to me" his voice was low and menacing, "anyone who lay's a finger on our Guild is an enemy, and I will destroy them all" everyone was speechless, Lucy and the three Exceed have never seen Natsu act up this much before; sure they have seen him angry when his friends are hurt, but this was on a whole new level, they were actually kind of afraid of him. Wendy looked up at the darkened sky, and became suspicious of how it was forming,

"this air…" she whispered to herself, "it's like the sky's going to come down".

* * *

Rain was pouring heavily, as the group decided to take shelter inside a cave, the group decided now would be a good time to rest for a bit, Carla and Lily decided to head out in search for their comrades once more. Lucy summoned Virgo, and asked for some spare clothes for her and Wendy to change into, since their own are completely tattered. Doran-Balt sat quietly on the side, and Makarov still lay on the ground unconscious. Natsu stood by the mouth of the cave and stared at the dark sky, ominous thoughts consumed his mind, he clenched his fist, right now he so wanted to just run out towards Grimoire Hearts Master and beat the life out of him, he could not forgive him for what he has done. He saw Carla return, waving towards her, the cat flew towards him,

"Carla where's Lily?" Happy asked,

"we ran into another camp set up not too far from here, apparently Gajeel and Mira are there in critical condition, Lily decided to stay and help" Natsu was inwardly concerned, he knew Gajeel well that he wouldn't let Grimore Heart get the upper hand over him, something had to be wrong,

"another camp?" Natsu wondered aloud,

"why don't we stop by for a bit, Cana might be there" Lucy said as she walked up from behind with her new clothes,

"that's right! I think it would be a good idea to meet up with everyone else" Wendy pointed out,

"there is no way…" Doran-Balt muttered, Natsu turned to him,

"stop the council for us" Natsu responded, "you said you wanted to help us, then stop the council from attacking the island"

"there is no way it can be done" Natsu walked over to Makarov and put him on his back carrying him out of the cave,

"all right, then buy us some time I'm counting on you" the man stood up,

"I'm not talking about myself!" he shouted out, "I'm talking about you! How do you expect to handle this insane situation we're stuck in?" Natus continued walking, the others following close behind him,

"With all our might" was his reply, "that is all" Doran-Balt stood completely astounded by his determination, there was no hesitation nor was there fear; the power in his words almost made him believe the Dragon Slayer.

* * *

The trek felt long and endless, the heavy rain didn't help either. Natsu and co followed Carla as she led them towards the camp, there was a strange presence in the air, but Natsu couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, however there was one thing for sure, whatever it was it was dangerous; Natsu looked left and right, it was getting closer, he stopped walking and took a closer look. A figure in the distance was walking towards them, Natsu narrowed his eyes,

"whats wrong?" Lucy asked, but Natsu didn't respond, he was on full alert not daring to take his eyes of the figure, the ominous energy was coming from him no doubt,

"who's there!" he called out, but the figure didn't respond merely continued to walk closer towards them. And that's when they all felt it, a powerful wave of energy flooded out of the figure,

"why is the rain only pouring down near him?" Carla asked,

"I don't know but it's like a gushing aura around his body", a man with a large coat draped around his shoulders, his dark hair was tied back into a very long pony tail, this man is known as Bluenote Stinger

"who the hell are you!" Natsu called out once more,

"I wonder if you can fly?" the man said, he raised an arm, "Nope… still can't fly; Fall" and as he said those words the land around him crushed beneath them, all of them forced to the ground as if a powerful gravitational force was pushing them down. Natsu gritted his teeth, but stood up with Makarov still on his back,

"I'm not interested in Fairy Tail, and I couldn't care less about Zeref" he said, "But there is one single thing I do want and it's here" he looked down, as Natsu stared angrily back, "where is the grave of the first Fairy Tail Master Mavis Vermillion?" Natsu's eyes widened, but in turn glared at the man,

"and why do you want to know?" he asked, setting his Master down gently on the ground next to Wendy knowing that the situation at the moment may cause him to take action,

"Fairy Glitter" was all he said, that was something Natsu hadn't heard of in a long time, but not something he would tell someone so loosely, "its written about within Fairy law, it is one of the three great magic's of your guild" Natsu stepped forward,

"what do you want that for" Natsu questioned,

"that 'Radiance' is a merciless light that rejects the presence of any foe" Natsu was surprised that he would answer so freely, "I want that magic" Natsu was beginning to get irritated with Grimore Heart, all of them wanted something to fulfill their selfish desires, "that magic appears to be sealed in Mavis' grave; you will tell me where it is" and that did it, Natsu clenched his fist and charged at the man, however was quickly thrown back by a mysterious force, crashing into the rubble, Lucy and Wendy screamed out in horror,

"you seem to know where it is" Bluenote said, he suddenly heard laughing, Natsu climbed out of the rocks and grinned dangerously at the dark mage,

"and what if I do?" he responded, the expression on Bluenote darkened,

"you will tell me where it is" Natsu chuckled, before glaring right back at the man, everyone jumped in fright when they saw Natsu's eyes, they were almost demonic,

"you will have to beat it out of me" Bluenote stared menacingly at the Dragon slayer,

"so be it" and with that Natsu charged at his opponent. The Dragon Slayer sped forward at so much speed that Bluenote did not even have time to react as he was kicked in the stomach, stumbling back he looked up and glared at the pink haired mage, his expression could not mask the surprise that struck him; however that will never happen again. Standing up straight he took a good look at Natsu, before realization struck him,

"so you are the one that Hades talked about" he said, Natsu narrowed his eyes unsure of how to react, "the one he hailed as stronger than Makarov" at this Lucy, Happy and Carla perked up, finally able to move they stood up and glanced between the two, they were shocked by the dark mages words, they knew that Natsu was strong, but stronger than their Master? They couldn't believe it,

"and what did that bastard say about me?" Natsu asked, Bluenote raised both his hands,

"a man who's power exceeds the gods" he replied, "however I will not believe it until I witness it for myself" and without even hesitating forced the earth down once more, crushing Natsu and the others to the ground. Natsu using all his strength stood up and looked around, the blast radius was much larger than before, almost as if a giant meteor had crash landed on the island; gritting his teeth he looked back at the others and was glad they were alright despite the powerful attack,

"everyone get to the camp, I will try and stop him" Natsu called out, everyone looked at him in disbelief,

"you can't be serious!" Lucy shouted, Natsu didn't respond; Wendy stared at the Fire Dragon Slayer with much thought, but soon made up her mind she stood up and grabbed Makarov putting the Master on her back, she looked back,

"be careful" she whispered, Natsu waved in acknowledgment,

"Lucy-san, we must take this chance to get to camp" Wendy told the Stellar spirit mage, Lucy could only turn and look at her stunned,

"what! We can't…" she was immediately cut off,

"right now, we would only be in the way" Wendy said so seriously that it surprised the girl a bit, "we can return with the others once we meet up with them" Lucy turned silent, she agreed with Wendy's logic, however it just didn't feel right for her to just abandon her comrade, however she too made up her mind, she nodded and began following Wendy; the two Exceed didn't say anything, ever since they heard Wendy's story they started to notice an unusual aura around both Dragon Slayers, they looked at Natsu and could feel the ever growing power coming from him and with that alone they were certain that Natsu could defeat the dark mage.  
Now alone, Natsu glared darkly at Bluenote, knowing fully that if he made a single mistake, it could very well cost him his life, igniting his fist into a brilliant orange flame he stepped into a fighting stance and got ready for his incoming battle.


	6. Chapter 6

**A rather short chapter, but hopefully has a little foreshadowing.**

**Also thank you to all those who reviewed my past few chapters**

* * *

Looking up at the sky, Wendy's face was filled with worry; the clouds twist and turned, she had a very bad feeling about the events that would soon come. They ran through the thick forest, running as fast as they could away from the battle. She could feel it, the powerful magical energy that skyrocketed, and to her distain it was not Natsu's. She looked at Lucy and just like her, she had a look filled with worry, she wanted to comfort her, but sadly her own words couldn't even comfort herself. But now thinking back, she knew that Natsu had started to get serious, and that alone brought comfort to herself. An explosion sounded not too far from their position, realizing that their comrades could be close by the group quickly dashed towards its direction. Brushing past the leaves and branches, they ignored all the cuts and bruises, eager to rejoin the others as soon as possible.

Rustyrose was a very obnoxious man, his dramatic sense of speech irritated Lisanna to no end; however she will not deny the fact that he was a powerful mage, his Arc of Embodiment was a terrifying form of magic, one that exceeded anything she has ever witnessed. Looking wary at the monster that the man had summoned, she quickly activated her Animal Soul: Tigress, she looked over at Levy and Lily who both got ready to fight to defend their injured friends. Leaping forward the trio quickly surrounded the dark mage; Lily in his battle form lunged at Rustyrose and sent his fist towards the man however was suddenly thrown back by a mysterious force, both Lisanna and Levy gasped in surprise at the sight; standing next to the man was a large armored beast towering over them,

"allow me to introduce you to Belcusas the Thunderclap" he said with a vicious grin, Lisanna snapping out of her surprise and glared darkly at the mage,

"Just what exactly are you people planning!" she shouted, Rustyrose's grin widened, however before he could speak he was interrupted by a gust of wind blown in his direction, the beast next to him jumped in front of him taking the hit instead, all heads turned to the source of the attack,

"do not bother asking them such questions, you will only get a meaningless answer" came a very familiar voice, the trio looked on with smiles on their faces as Wendy, Lucy, Happy and Carla entered the scene; Wendy had set Makarov down next to the other injured, and quickly handed a vial to Levy,

"I didn't think it would resort to me using this…" she whispered to the blue haired girl, "give the others a single drop of the fluid" Levy wanted to ask what she had meant, but decided now was not the time, she hurried over to the others and did what she was told. Wendy stared darkly at Rustyrose and his creature,

"meaningless you say" he growled, "how dare you insult our goals", completely ignoring what he had to say Wendy turned to the others,

"I want you all to stand back and make sure the injured are safe" she ordered, she received mixed reactions for her request,

"are you crazy?" Lucy cried out, "If we're going to fight, we do it together"

"Lucy is right Wendy" Lisanna replied, inwardly Wendy was apologizing over and over again, hoping her friends would forgive her; she let out a sigh, eyes turning dangerous, and gave them all a fierce look,

"you will do as I say, do you understand!" her voice was menacing and nothing like the tone the little girl that they all knew had; they were all terrified and incredibly confused as to what had happened to the young dragon slayer, but the look in her eyes immediately made them step back. Wendy turned her attention to Rustyrose once more,

"there are a few things you need to know" she said, "the first is that your guilds interference has gotten me in a very bad mood" the air around area suddenly started to get heavier,

"the second is that smug face of yours annoys me to no end" strong currents of wind began to swirl around the dragon slayer,

"and finally…" her eyes transformed, turning from her usual innocent eyes to one full of blood lust, "the moment you hurt my friends was the moment you signed your death warrant" and as she said those words she let out a powerful wave of killing intent. Rustyrose's stood staring warily at the girl, but as he felt such power resonating from her, he couldn't help but feel scared of her. Hesitant he sent his beast to attack the dragon slayer; the others could only watch in horror as the large beast approached Wendy, they all got ready to intercept but jumped in surprise when the beast mysteriously stopped in its tracks and split in two as it fell to the ground; Wendy stood unimpressed and walked slowly towards the dark mage. Frightened as to what had just happened, Rustyrose backed away from the girl. Back with the others, they all could only stare in awe at what the young Dragon Slayer was capable of,

"so she finally decided to let it out" a voice sounded from behind them, turning around they met with a heavily bandaged Gajeel,

"you can't get up yet!" Levy shouted out, but the Iron Dragon Slayer just gave her his signature grin, he turned to face the battlefield,

"oi Wendy!" he called out, the girl looked in his direction, "they've got some sort of weird magic that can drain away all your energy, watch yourself"

"noted" was her response, the others looked between the two, Lily put one and one together and realized what was going on, he looked to Gajeel who observed the fight with interest.

* * *

Natsu ran through the forest, attempting to follow the scent he had on the others, but the rain was proving it difficult. He could feel a spike of magic energy not too far in the distance, he grinned at the familiar energy,

"it looks like all dragons have gathered" he whispered to himself, he looked back at the battle that was still occurring; no matter how many times he witnessed his power, Natsu will always be impressed by Gildarts' raw power, he would probably be one of the few humans that would put up a good fight against a dragon. However this only made him even more wary, if what Gildarts says is true and his encounter with Acnologia was as terrifying as he says, then just how much more powerful has the dragon become over the years. He still has yet to recover his full power, but he was sure that if he were to ever encounter the black dragon he could at least hold out on his own. And it was at that moment he could feel a majority of his magic power being sucked out of him, collapsing onto his knees he looked up and watched in horror as the Tenrou tree, a holy tree that was very special to the First Master of Fairy Tail; it was at that moment something within him snapped, it was one thing that the Second Master of Fairy Tail had gone rouge, but to go as far and desecrate something so important to the guild was another; Natsu clenched his fist tightly, eyes flared darkly looking demonic, he stood up and dashed at full speed towards where the others are.

Fried and Bixlow were both very surprised at how well the young Dragon Slayer was dealing with the dark mage; having come back to the island after seeing the signal flare they were afraid something might have happened and they were right but their worry was unneeded, looking from the sidelines, Wendy was had brought the dark mage to his knees, his body full of cuts that it was somewhat gruesome. Gasping for air Rustyrose glared at the little girl, never before in his life has he been so humiliated in battle, he tried to comprehend where the girls attacks were coming from but when he thought he had gotten a pattern down something unpredictable would occur; he looked at the sidelines devised a possible plan to deal a lethal blow to the girl, he only needed to know the time to strike,

"to think that a mere girl could do this much to me is quite the feet" he said, Wendy didn't respond, rather she stood and stared at him, she raised an arm, strong currents began gathering around her palm, she was ready to deal the killing blow when suddenly she felt a lot weaker, she dropped to her knees and looked behind her, hoping that the others were alright, sadly they too had collapsed. Realizing that this was his chance, Rustyrose summoned his Jet Black Sword and launched it at the people in the sidelines; Wendy's eyes widened when she realized that the attack was not directed at her, she tried to stop the attack but was unable to do so; the claws approached a single target at high speeds, nobody was able to react fast enough, Lisanna realized that she was the target of the attack, she wanted to move but was too weak to do so, she shut her eyes ready for it to impact; but there was nothing, slowly opening her eyes, a wide smile formed on her lips,

"Natsu!" she called out, but he didn't turn to her,

"are you alright Lisanna?" he asked,

"yeah" was her reply, Natsu glared at the Grimore Heart mage with utter rage,

"you people just keep on appearing like flies!" Rustyrose shouted out, in rage that his plan had failed,

"Wendy, step aside" Natsu ordered, Wendy gasped in surprise, noticing the demonic look that the Fire Dragon Slayer had, she quickly stood by the sidelines with the others. Natsu who had a firm grip on the claw crushed it in his anger. And in a flash he appeared right in front of the dark mage; killing intent was pouring out of the Dragon Slayer, and at this point Rustyrose was getting the full brink of it, he scurried back in fear,

"I do not take kindly to those who hurt my comrades, however I despise those who even dare to harm someone as important to me as her" Lisanna couldn't help but blush a little at his words, and would have reacted a little more to it if it were not for the fact that Natsu was giving off an incredible amount of magical energy,

"w-what are y-you talking about?" Rustyrose has never felt this much fear, not since witnessing Master Hades' power; but this was on a whole new level. Natsu brought up his hand and faced it at Rustyrose,

"Perish" was all he said, Wendy and Gajeel had a rush of nostalgia at the feeling of Natsu's energy, one that they haven't felt for over 400 years. A jet of blood red flames erupted from Natsu's palm and blasted its way towards Rustyrose who didn't have any time to react. Engulfed by the flames, he began to scream horrifically, everyone with the exception of the other two Dragon Slayers cringed at the sound. As the flames faded, there was nothing left, not even the ashes of its victim. Natsu turned around and faced the shocked expressions of his comrades,

"Natsu… what was that?" Lucy was the first to speak up,

"nothing I can explain at the moment" he responded, he looked up at the gloomy sky, before glaring in the direction he knew Hades was at.

"I am going after Hades, what are your plans?" he asked the others, startled by his sudden question, they all hesitated to answer,

"I will stay here and set up runes to protect the camp" Fried responded,

"I will stay and help" Levy said,

"I'm going to stay and tend to the wounded" was Lisanna's reply, Natsu nodded, he looked at Gajeel,

"I want you to stay here, and rested" Gajeel was about to retort but was interrupted, "that is an order" Natsu said firmly, the Iron Dragon Slayer reluctantly nodded,

"Lucy, Happy, let's go" Natsu called out, the blonde girl jumped up in surprise,

"eh? Me?" she asked pointing at herself,

"we're a team of course" Natsu responded,

"I will go as well!" Wendy piped up,

"Wait!" Lucy called out, "has anyone seen Cana?" everyone shook their head, this only made Lucy worry even more,

"don't worry about her" Natsu responded, "she's with Gildarts fighting Bluenote…" he trailed off,

"but with the collapse of the Tenrou Tree, I don't know…"

"Natsu have faith! We both know how powerful Gildarts is, and with Cana there to help there shouldn't be a problem" Lisanna said, he smiled a bit at her, before nodding in acknowledgment,

"alright then" he clenched his fist tightly, "let's go pay Hades a visit".


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we go, chapter 7, hope you guys enjoy! And thanks for the reviews much appreciated**

* * *

The heavy rain truly set the atmosphere; Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Happy, Carla and Lily approached a large vessel that had landed on the beach, it gave of an uncomfortable vibe, looking around for the entrance, Natsu immediately sensed a powerful source of dark magic coming from two distinct sources, one was human, the other however was something organic but he didn't know what. There was a sudden crack of a tree branch, turning around they faced Gray and Erza.

"what are you guys doing here?" Erza asked,

"the same reason you are here" was Natsu's response,

"I truly have to give my praise to Makarov's soldiers, to think that all of the seven kin, even Bluenote would be defeated by you" Hades announced from atop of the ship, "oh well, I suppose I will have to be your opponent, the devil shall play with the fairies at last; let's have some fun, Third Fairy Tail!" he turned around and began walking back into the ship, many of them expected Natsu to start bursting out in anger but to their surprise he remained silent, they looked at him and were startled by the murderous look he was giving; his glare suddenly fading, Natsu turned to the three Exceed,

"Happy, can you do me a favor?" he asked, the blue cat nodded in response, "can you search the ship for what looks like its power source and destroy it, I have a feeling that it will severely cripple Grimore Heart"

"Alright, we will do what we can" Happy replied, the other two nodding in agreement,

"Shall we get started then?" Gray announced, as he formed a long staircase that lead upwards towards the ship,

"be careful you guys" Carla said, Wendy turned to the cat and gave her a reassuring nod; and with that the two groups split up each heading towards their goal. The five Fairy Tail mages ran up the stairs with Natsu leading them,

"He's even more powerful than Master" Erza said, "we need to be fighting at full power from the very start"

"got it!" Gray responded,

"we need to get give it everything we got!" Lucy said, finally at the top, Natsu immediately raised up his brilliant orange flaming fist and charged at Hades delivering a hard punch, the man in response blocked it but was a little startled by how powerful the force was and stumbled back a little,

"you had better use your full power if you ever want to live" Natsu said, Hades grinned and pushed Natsu back who landed in front of the others; without even giving the guild master even a chance to get his footing, Erza and Gray charged forward assaulting him from the front, Erza requiped into her Heaven's Wheel armor while Gray formed two ice swords in both hands, they struck Hades from both sides; for the dark mage, he was fortunate enough to create a barrier to block the attacks, getting his footing he used his Chain magic and shot forth two chains towards Erza and Gray catching both of them on the wrists, and with one swing flung both of them towards Natsu, Lucy and Wendy; at this point Wendy stepped forward, she gathered a currents of wind at the tip of her fingers and launched blades of wind at the chains, cutting both Erza and Gray loose, Gray stumbled onto his feet and brought his hands together,

"Ice Make: Lance!" he chanted and shot six ice lances towards Hades, who jumped to the side and easily dodged it, only to be met with a sand twister; Lucy stood confidently with a single golden key in her hands, Scorpio sat with his tail pointed at Hades still sending out a gust of sand towards his opponent, as the attack faded so did Scorpio as he returned to the spirit realm,

"Thanks Scorpio" Lucy called out. Hades stumbled back at the impact of the attack, but quickly sent out another magic chain, this time towards Lucy who got caught by the hook and was about to be sent flying, but Erza quickly intercepted and cut the chain with her sword in her Black Wing Armor,

"I will enchant the attack power, defensive power and speed of everyone's magic" Wendy announced, bringing forth her arms they glowed a bright blue, "Arms! Armor! Vernier!" a strong magical aura surrounded everyone causing them all to feel stronger, both Gray and Erza once more charged at Hades, this time Gray brought out a single large ice sword and swung it at Hades with incredible speed, Erza too attacked the dark mage with fast pace jab's with her sword but Hades managed to dodge them all,

"Open Taurus Gate!" Lucy shouted, a large bull holding a massive axe appeared above Hades and swung his weapon down, Hades quickly jumped back avoiding the blow as the axe crushed the ground beneath them the forced of the attack threw Hades off balance, and that's when Erza and Gray took their chance,

"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" forming a large bazooka Gray fired a powerful cannon ball of ice hitting Hades in the gut; Erza jumped behind him and landed two sword swings on Hades, quickly jumping back to create distance he was caught off guard when Natsu just suddenly appeared in front of him clearly surprised he received a powerful punch in the face flinging him into the back of the ship. Everyone gathered around Natsu watching the smoke rise up from where Hades fell,

"The mistakes people make are eventually labeled as experience" Hades said, "but with a true mistake there will be no experience to be gained" the smoke cleared and the dark mage walked towards them completely unscathed, everyone with the exception of Natsu and Wendy looked completely shocked, "because the mistake you made taking me on as your opponent will leave you with no future"

"no way, it had no effect on him" Lucy gasped out in fear,

"h-hey I went all out on him" Gray muttered out,

"Now then are you just about done with your warm ups?" Hades asked; Natsu stepped forward,

"I figured our attacks wouldn't have done much to you" the Dragon Slayer said casually, "but I'm glad you're finally done fooling around" brilliant orange flames engulfed his being sending a powerful burst of magical power around him, Erza, Gray and Lucy looked shocked at how calm Natsu was, it almost sent chills down their spines, "because you made the mistake of defiling _her_ memory, and for that I will end your future!" Hades started to laugh, the pressure around him starting to get heavy, everyone else readied themselves for an incoming attack, however before anything could even happen Natsu was already right in Hades face his flaming fist raised high and once again punched the dark mage in the face but this time with less power. Hades stumbled back but at the same time cast Amaterasu, three seals appeared around Natsu causing a suddenly a powerful explosion occurred within the seal,

"Natsu!" Erza shouted, she was about to run in to check on him but was suddenly grappled by a hook and flung around crashing into Lucy and in turn chained up with her. Hades pointed his fingers at the Fairy Tail members,

"Bang" bolts of magic shot out the tips and straight for its target; it hit Gray on the stomach piercing through it causing him to crumble onto the floor, the next few shots hit Erza on the arm and Lucy through her leg. Wendy charged forward not giving Hades the chance to attack again, raising her hand and made a single slicing motion and with that a blade of wind summoned its way towards the dark mage. Hades was surprised by the attack; he didn't expect such deadly magic to be possessed by such a young girl, but putting the pieces together he realized as to what she was,

"so you're like Dragneel" he claimed, Wendy didn't answer, rather she sent another blade of wind towards him who dodged it with ease; but at this point Natsu burst out of the smoke and launched his wing attack sending a powerful spiral of flames at Hades, blocking the attack with a barrier, Wendy intercepted him from behind and sent her own wing attack throwing Hades into the air, if one were to look closely they would notice the multiple cuts on his back. Flipping around he landed his feet on the ceiling of the ship and activated Amaterasu, this time seals engulfed the area around them sending a massive shockwave blowing everyone in different directions; landing on the ground Hades observed his handy work,

"don't let your guard down" Wendy growled out as she appeared in front of him, her hand high up coming down for a clean attack, Hades blocked it with his magic barrier, but he suddenly saw Natsu behind Wendy with a flaming fist pulled back,

"to sacrifice your own in order to defeat me? You and …." But he stopped himself when he saw the smirk on Wendy's face; Natsu's fist blew straight through the Sky Dragon Slayer and right into Hades' gut throwing him back into a pile of rubble. Wendy's stomach had completely disappeared where Natsu's entire arm was, as he pulled out, almost like recreating itself her body returned to normal,

"I can transform any part of my body into air allowing any form of physical objects to pass through me" she explained as she noted the looks of awe of her guild mates faces; Erza and Gray were in complete shock at how in sync Natsu and Wendy were, even more so at the moves Wendy was pulling off, Lucy although less so than Erza and Gray was amazed by the power the two dragon slayers.

"I truly overestimated myself" Hades called out, "I should have known it would take more than such measly powers to defeat a dragon let alone two"

"I did tell you Hades to use your full power" Natsu responded, Hades once again casually walked towards them although this time a little beat up,

"you and I are not so different" he claimed, Natsu's eyes narrowed,

"oh? Enlighten me" was the dragon slayers response,

"we both are in search of the essence of magic, and we both understand that such magic is pure darkness" Natsu remained silent for a bit before looking up at Hades,

"yes, we might have been similar, if I was the same person all those years ago; but now, not so much" Natsu replied, "I no longer search for the one magic, it is territory unwise to tread on" Hades' eyes looked somber for a moment, almost as if he was disappointed with Natsu's response,

"a pity" he said,

"what's going on Natsu!" Gray called out, "you guys are talking like you two know each other"

"oh? You never told your guild mates?" Hades asked, Natsu remained silent, "I was Fairy Tail's second Master. I went by the name Purehito" everyone with the exception of Natsu had looks of surprise, "I was the one who nominated Makarov to be the third Guild Master" he turned and looked to Natsu, "but without this man, there would probably be no Fairy Tail!" everyone turned and looked at Natsu who remained passive, "isn't that right, Master of Mavis Vermillion, Dragon King Dragneel!" Wendy looked a little surprised, to think that her king would also be the mentor of the person who created the guild she has grown to love; everyone else to say were completely speechless, they didn't know how to respond to such accusation, only stare at the one they have shared all their adventures with. Natsu sighed, he didn't want to have to reveal his identity to his friends so soon; he could just imagine it his friends sitting him through a long interrogation,

"enough of this" the dragon slayer called out and got into a fighting stance, "let us end this"

"yes" Hades raised up both his hands and mysterious seals started forming around them, "forgive me for using such underhanded tactics, but I will not let anyone get in my way to my goal" suddenly two seals appeared underneath Natsu and Wendy, initially striking them with a burst of energy; the two Dragon Slayers completely caught off guard. Natsu gasped out and fell to his knees, Wendy doing to same, Erza realizing what was going, struggled to her feet,  
"y-you!" Natsu gasped out, "you drained away our magic power!"

"That's right; it was something I prepared in case I ever had to confront you Dragneel" Lucy glanced at Natsu and Wendy, many questions were running through her mind, but the biggest thought was wondering just how powerful Natsu was if even the former second Master of Fairy Tail had to cripple him so severely just to ensure a victory,

"I guess now the tables have turned".


	8. Chapter 8

**And here is chapter 8, wanted to upload this earlier, but was too busy with exams  
Also thank you for all the reviews, really encourages me to write more :)**

* * *

The three Exceed's ran through the hallways of the docked ship, their search for the power source Natsu spoke of was going nowhere, they checked every possible door only to be led to the most ridiculous of places; lightning could be heard from the outside,

"Hey! What happened to the soundproofing on this ship? I can completely hear the thunder from the outside!" Panther Lily exclaimed, he covered his ears as if in fear that lightning would strike him on the spot at any time,

"you'll be fine, just settle down" Happy responded, the blue cat looked around "Next! Let's try going over here" he called out turning around a corner,

"Come along Lily" Carla said following Happy, Lily stumbled, but quickly followed them.

* * *

Completely defeated, the Fairy Tail members were scattered around the ground, wounds and bruises all over their bodies. Panting Natsu struggled onto his feat and ran towards Hades; Lucy watched him stagger, tears forming beneath her eyes,

"Natsu" she whispered, Wendy from her fallen form raised her hand, a small glow illuminating around her fallen comrades restoring their strength by a little bit but not enough, panting she cursed at herself for being so careless, if she didn't have her magic power drained then the Dragon magic within her would have been able to restore her own powers allowing her to do so much more. Receiving a punch to the face, Natsu fell to the ground,

"Do fairies have tails? Or don't they? An eternal mystery and an eternal adventure" Hades said, "The origin of the name of your guild probably sprung from that thought" his foot stomped onto Natsu's head burying his face onto the ground, "but your journey is about to end; Mavis' will was entrusted to me. My will was entrusted to Makarov, but that was a mistake; Makarov has changed the guild" Natsu started laughing, using all his strength he pushed himself of the ground,

"no, that was probably the smartest thing you've done so far" he said, "I can't imagine what sort of guild Fairy Tail would be if you continued to be its Master; but I can guess one thing, Mavis would probably be disgusted by it" Natsu glared up at Hades, "If you don't have the courage to change things then you might as well die!" he screamed out. Hades glared right back at him and pointed his finger towards the Dragon Slayer, and started firing repeatedly at him. Natsu held in the pain, but at the moment it felt like his body was about to be torn apart,

"please stop" Lucy pleaded,

"Stop it!" Erza screamed out; Hades ignored their please, strong currents of magic formed around his hand,

"this is goodbye Dragneel" he said,

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed, suddenly a powerful lightning strike pierced through the ceiling of the ship interrupting Hades' attack; the dark mage stumbled back and looked at what had intercepted him,

"So you're the one causing all this ruckus" a man spoke out, Natsu looked up and smiled at the sight, the man's wild blonde hair flickered and his entire being surrounded by statics of lightning,

"Laxus" Natsu gasped out, Laxus pulled his head back and head butted Hades in the face forcing him back, he looked down at Natsu,

"you look like crap"

"thanks for pointing out the obvious" Laxus chuckled at his response,

"what are you doing here?" Erza asked,

"I came to visit my ancestors grave; after all I was once a part of Fairy Tail" he replied, Erza couldn't help but smile,

"but I was shocked that the second had forsaken her" Laxus glared darkly at Hades, "at least come and pay your respects!"

"ah, to think that brat still had these kind of relatives" Hades muttered to himself, the two stared at one another neither one breaking any sort of eye contact; without hesitating Laxus punched Hades back completely surprising him, Laxus charged forward kicking Hades on the side, his movements were rapid and powerful not risking the chance of giving the dark mage an opening. Kicking him back he Laxus launched himself in a trail of lightning attempting to deal a critical blow, Hades jumped back just barely avoiding the attack however Laxus in one deep breath launched a powerful ray of lightning from his mouth, dodging Hades threw out his chain magic towards Laxus; the lightning dragon slayer barely dodging it, stumbled back he quickly jumped out of the way as the chain had latched onto a large piece of rock and was being dragged along towards him. Too focused on the large rock Laxus didn't realize that he had landed onto a trap before it was too late, seals surrounded him and within seconds was engulfed in a large explosion; before anyone could realize what had happened lightning struck out of the smoke and behind Hades, Laxus using his weight, he dealt a powerful blow to Hades before jumping back creating much needed distance between them. Everyone watched in amazement at the power he displayed, but that quickly changed to worry as Laxus grunted in plain and fell to one knee,

"Laxus!" Natsu shouted out,

"it must be the spell that just hit him" Lucy whispered to herself as she put the pieces together; struggling to stand up Laxus could only watch as Hades got closer to him,

"the world is truly a large place, to think that a monster of a person like this exists, I still have ways to go",

"looks like you finally learned your place Laxus" Hades said, "Now you can disappear" and without any hesitation a powerful beam shot out of his palms directed at Laxus,

"Laxus dodge it!" Erza screamed out, but he didn't move the attack came closer and closer, with a single stroke Laxus struck his lightning onto the ground, it traveled all the way to an unsuspecting source. A loud explosion erupted destroying a good chunk of the ship and ultimately shaking it to the very core causing everyone on board to tumble around. As the smoke cleared away Laxus' fallen body flew back from the power of the attack,

"Laxus!" Erza, Luzy and Gray cried out in panic, Natsu stood up, eyes flaring as he looked up at Hades,

"thanks for the meal" he said as lightning surrounded his body,

"I leave everything to you Natsu" Laxus managed to whisper out as he fell unconscious,

"don't worry" Natsu's glare on Hades darkened, "I will tell you one more time; you had better bring forth your full power otherwise you are going to regret it", Hades began to laugh,

"I suppose you speak some truth" he began to remove his eye patch, "however the one who is going to regret it is you" his right eye began to open, "Devil's Eye awakening! I am going to show you something remarkable!" a flow of dark magic began to circle him, his aura became increasingly darker by the second, everyone besides Natsu were completely shocked by the sudden burst of magical energy,

"The Abyss of Magic, this domain of magic is far beyond any of your wildest imaginations" Hades announced, "This is your end Fairy Tail", normally when forced into a situation such as this any person would have been stricken with fear, however Natsu did the unthinkable, he started to laugh, everyone looked at him as if he were crazy though they didn't utter a single word,

"go ahead throw me your best shot" Hades growled out at Natsu's lack of fear; calling upon the dark magic around him, he created a small army of demons from the debris of the ship, Lucy was trembling in fear at the amount of evil emanating from them, Gray himself couldn't even move an inch while Erza's hand was shaking uncontrollably. With one stroke Hades commanded his demon's to attack, each one firing a powerful beam towards the Fairy Tail team, everyone braised for the impact, Natsu on the other hand raised one hand, streams of lightning trailed out intercepting each attack causing them all to explode before hitting their targets. Hades' eyes widened with surprise,

"you look unsettled" Natsu said, everyone opened their eyes and looked up relieved that they were all okay, they smiled a bit when they saw Natsu still standing tall and strong, "is it because you are worried of something?" smirking a little when he saw Hades flinch, "but honestly the amount of power of your dark arts is nothing compared to Zeref's"

"What are you saying" Hades hissed out,

"I'm saying your power is weak compared to the real thing" Natsu sighed, he glanced back at his friends before looking at Hades once more, "you say that the One Magic comes from darkness" the Dragon Slayer chuckled, "looks like Mavis' teachings never got through to your thick skull" stepping forward, lightning still dancing around his body, "then allow me to educate you, boy" Hades gritted his teeth in anger, he could see it in the Dragon Slayer's eyes, he was pitying him, "I told you before that I stopped looking for the One Magic because it was not territory we should tread in, I lied" that got everyone's attention including Hades "Because the truth is I found the answer to it" Erza noticed Natsu's eyes, they were no longer of the idiotic boy she grew up with, no, they were ones of a man who has seen much of the world, they were eyes filled with wisdom and clarity, "the One Magic is the magic around us, life makes it grow, binds us, makes us stronger, it lives through all things, the air we breathe, the ground we walk, the water we drink, it lives through us all; that is what it is"

"that is something I no longer believe in" Hades muttered, "enough of your nonsense, it is time I end this!" Natsu sighed before falling into a stance, he made an unusual hand sign, both parties were confused by the gesture; suddenly Natsu began to be surrounded by a blue energy coming from all directions,  
"just what are you doing?" Hades called out, Natsu grinned,

"I told you didn't I, the One Magic flows around us; so let us put it to the test, who's theory is stronger mine or yours" the blue energy traveled past and through the Fairy Tail members, it felt warm to them, like the morning summer heat, it was a calming feeling that threw away all their fears. The energy gathered into a small ball, seconds past and the flow of energy ceased; Erza could only imagine how much damage that much raw energy could cause if it went out of control, but the next thing completely caught her by surprise, Natsu ate it, consuming the raw power a powerful burst of magical energy surged from him, it was so powerful that it blasted into the sky; raising his hand into the air Natsu began to gather more energy onto his palm this time from within himself. Hades fully knowing that whatever Natsu was going to throw at him would be incredibly damaging commanded his demons once more attack, firing their beams, he was shocked when the attacks suddenly transformed into a blue energy and gathered into the small orb that was floating above Natsu, suddenly that very same orb transformed into a ball of lightning which Natsu sent flying high above the clouds,

"I must thank you once more Laxus for giving me this power" Natsu whispered and as he said those words the sound of thunder clashing echoed in their ears,

"Hades, I am going to return all the pain you have caused to my comrades tenfold" lightning descended from the heavens, shaping and forming into a magnificent dragon, it let out a roar of thunder; moving his hand Natsu guided the lightning dragon around and with one swoop brought it crashing down on top of Hades exploding on impact lightning surged around randomly causing the rest of the Fairy Tail members to dive for some cover. Seconds past and there was nothing but silence, the smoke gradually passed and they could see Hades' fallen body, they were all about to cheer in victory but held back when he suddenly twitched and stumbled back onto his feet,

"impressive" he gasped out, "you truly possess the power of the Dragon, but do not think this will be the end of me!" Natsu sighed, he looked at the dark mage with disappointment,  
"stop deluding yourself" turning his back on him, Natsu started walking away, "I had intended to kill you, but after seeing you like this, you are no longer worth it",

"don't you dare turn away from me Dragneel!" Hades shouted, but suddenly he felt incredibly weakened, "the Devil's Heart!" he muttered to himself, Natsu felt it as well, the dark magic was slowly disappearing; Hades fell to his knees gasping for air. Natsu blinked in surprise and looked into the far distance, a smile spread across his lips as he gazed at the fully recovered Tenrou Tree,

"have I truly lost?" Hades whispered as he collapsed severely injured from Natsu's previous attack, Natsu stopped in his tracks,

"you lost the moment you decided to make Fairy Tail your enemy" the Dragon Slayer replied, at this point the sky had cleared up, the sun was shining down at them as everyone had slowly recovered their energy, even Laxus had awakened from his slumber and was sitting up glancing at his surroundings. Natsu smiled at everyone as they did so in return, when he suddenly face planted onto the ground, caught completely surprised they all rushed to him, Wendy was the first to get to him as she turned him around and rest his head on her lap,

"I think I might have made a big mistake in using that technique" he muttered,

"what are you talking about?" Lucy asked,

"when I gathered that much raw magic into my body it used up a lot of my strength, and I was in no condition to do so at that point" he explained, "so now I'm completely beat, I can't even move a muscle" there was silence before Gray burst out laughing,

"what's this? You were looking pretty cool back there and now you're like this? That's pretty lame" he commented, Natsu upon reflex sat up punched Gray in the face before falling back down,

"the heck! You just said you couldn't move a muscle!" the ice mage shouted out,

"yeah, but I will always have enough strength to take you on, you stripper" Natsu retorted, everyone couldn't help but laugh,

"you all probably have a lot of questions" Natsu muttered, everyone quickly fell quiet, "but could we leave that for later, I'm kind of tired…" with his words he fell asleep,

"Everyone!" they heard a voice calling out to them, turning around they saw the three Exceed running towards them,

"Help us!" Happy called out daring not to look back at the mob of mages that were chasing after them, Erza stood up and looked dishearten,  
"I'm out of magic, this isn't good" she mumbled, the three Exceed reached them,

"sorry, I've used up all of my magic energy as well" Lily said; but that was when they noticed how the mob had stopped in their tracks, confused by their looks of shock and fear they turned to look behind them,

"Hold it right there!" Makarov called out, he along the rest of Fairy Tail had arrived to the scene, the mob looked around and noticed Hades' fallen body and all started to panic, "Get of this island immediately!" with one last command the Grimnore Heart mages ran off apologizing to them along the way; once out of sight the Fairy Tail group all cheered in victory. Lisanna ran towards Natsu's sleeping form,

"is he alright?" she asked, her voice laced with worry, Wendy gave her a reassuring smile,

"Natsu's just over exhausted, he should be back up within a few hours" she explained, Lisanna let out a sigh of relief, she looked back at the group, everyone was hugging and cheering, glad they were all safe, looking at the far back she could see the Master giving, to her surprise, Laxus an earful, while Fried, Bixlow and Evergreen were crying tears of joy at his return; she smiled at the sight. Things had finally settled down.


	9. Chapter 9

**And I'm back from my holiday! Thought I might give you guys a slightly longer chapter, so enjoy :)**

**By the way hope some of you guys can help me out, do you think I should make this a Natsu/Lisanna/Wendy pairing? Cause the way things are developing it kind of points towards it. Cause SPOILERS: I plan to make Wendy age a lot later on.**

* * *

Everything had finally settled down with the defeat of Master Hades and now the members of Fairy Tail rested calmly around their campsite tending to all the wounded. Natsu who had awoken from his slumber sat quietly in the corner trying to gather all the magic power he had lost to Hades; eyes closed, his breathing was slow and steady, he could feel a small spike of energy within him, though it was small it was something and to Natsu that was good enough. Opening his eyes he came face to face with Lisanna, jumping back startled by her closeness he stumbled off the seat he was sitting on,

"are you alright?" Lisanna asked, standing up Natsu brushed himself off,

"you surprised me" he said, the girl in response just laughed guiltily,

"sorry, I was just curious at what you were doing; unless you are sleeping you don't normally sit so still" Natsu's face faulted, not really sure how to take her response,

"Yeah, Natsu is usually up and about causing destruction" Happy said,

"oi, oi, is that really the opinion you guys have of me?" he asked, Lisanna giggled,

"no, but I think that's what everybody else thinks" eyes flaming he jumped up in anger,

"What!" he looked to Lisanna and Happy "tell me who! I'm going to kick their ass!" but before they could answer the Dragon Slayer ran passed them and started a small brawl among the wounded; Lisanna sighed at his rash behavior but smiled, Happy flew close by,

"you llliiikkkeee him" he slurred out, Lisanna blushed a deep red

"shush" she quickly grabbed the blue cat and held him close to her face, "not so loud" she hissed, "and how did you know Happy!"

"everyone knows" Mirajane said as she suddenly popped in between Lisanna and Happy, squishing Happy in a tight hug Lisanna jumped up completely surprised by her sisters sudden appearance,

"Mira-nee!" she screamed out, Mira merely smiled while Lisanna recovered from her shock, releasing Happy from her grip who was more than happy to finally be able to breath, she took a few breaths before facing her sister,

"what did you mean everyone knows?" she asked,

"well everyone knows you've always had a thing for Natsu, it's been obvious since we were children" was Mira's response,

"well I guess I did talk a lot about being Natsu's wife…" Mira placed her hands on Lisanna's shoulders reassuringly

"don't worry, I'm sure you have the best chance with Natsu although I've seen quite a few female eyes go after him" Lisanna's heart skipped a beat in panic, "actually, 'after him' isn't the right words, more like they have taken an interest in him" Mira began stroking her chin entering deep thought before giving her younger sister a charming smile and a thumbs up,

"but don't you worry, this is Natsu we are talking about, when it comes to love, he is probably by far the most dense out of everyone in the world" Lisanna sighed,

"don't I know it" she let out a small smile "but that's probably one of the reasons why I have come to love him" she turned and looked at the brawl that was still ongoing, "but no matter what happens, I will always be by his side supporting him" it was not directed at anyone, more so, she was telling herself; Mira stood behind her, she looked to Happy who was also observing the brawl, a mischievous smile crept onto her lips, it looked like she would have to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

After Erza had stepped in and knocked Natsu out causing the brawl to cease, Gray dusted himself of looking up at the Tenrou tree which had mysteriously recovered from its destruction,

'could it have been Ultear?' he wondered, Erza also gazed upon the tree thinking who could have restored it back, when there was a sudden cry that caught their attention,

"Hey… you guys" looking down they saw Juvia crawing out of the bushes,

"Juvia!" Erza called out,

"you're okay!" Gray exclaimed,

"Juvia is so sorry… Juvia let Zeref get away" a river of tears poured out of her eyes, she quickly approached Gray, "Gray-sama, please punish me! Give it to me however you like!" stepping back completely freaked out by the situation he got himself into, Gray shook his head,

"I-I don't have those kinds of hobbies!" he cried out,

"but I do" she responded, Lucy observed with a small smile, she was glad that Juvia had returned but was still worried about Cana who has yet to appear, but just as those thoughts passed her mind both Cana and Gildarts walked onto the camp grounds, they were talking and Gildarts had a wide smile plastered on his face, with Lucy's mind going to work she finially put two and two together and was glad that Cana had finally told him the truth about their father daughter relationship. Lucy smiled, though it was a mixture of happiness and sadness, she was for one happy to see Cana and Gildarts relationship start of so well; then she thought back to her own relationship with her father and couldn't help but feel a little sad at how far apart they have become.

Makarov stepped forward clearing his throat getting everyone's attention,

"I would like to announce that the S-Class trials will be put on hold" all participants sighed but nodded understandingly, Natsu suddenly awakening from his knockout jumped towards Makarov,

"What! We can't just suddenly stop after coming this far!" he exclaimed, Makarov went into deep thought stroking his chin in the process,

"I suppose your right, very well I'll make this a special occasion for you Natsu, if you manage to beat me, I'll promote you to S-class" he told the Dragon Slayer, jumping up in victory Natsu began cracking his knuckles eyes flaring with excitement,

"alright! Here I …." But before he could finish he was punched by a giant fist, throwing him right into a tree knocking him out once more, Happy landed next to him and poked him with a stick,

"just when he woke up too" the cat mumbled to himself, Makarov looked down at Natsu,

"Natsu…" he called out, Natsu opened his eyes and sat up, he chuckled to himself and scratched the back of his head nervously, "I have a couple of questions to ask you" Makarov said, upon looking at the seriousness of their Master's expression everyone gathered around all knowing exactly what he wanted to ask. Natsu glanced around noting that everyone had a look of concern or curiosity, picking himself up he sat cross legged,

"so what is it you want to know?"

"I want to know what exactly you have been hiding all this time" Makarov said, Natsu eyed the seriousness in his Master's eyes,

"I'm assuming you're talking about the power I used against Grimnore Heart" Makarov nodded, he raised his hand and a small ball of dark red flames appeared, everyone gazed at it with interest, "this here is the Flames of Hell, a special kind of flame that very few possess; it is not something you learn to harness, this flame is something you are born with and is something very difficult to control"

"how powerful are we talking about here?" Makarov asked, Natsu gave him a weak smile,

"whether it is controlled or not, this flame has the power to incinerate anything including magic itself" stunned by his explanation the others didn't know exactly what to say, especially considering they themselves saw firsthand at how destructive that power was,

"what did you mean that it is difficult to control?" Gildarts asked, Natsu looked to Erza, Gray and Lucy,

"remember how I told Hades I found the answer to the One Magic" the three nodded while everyone else looked genuinely surprised, "the truth is I lied again, his theory on the One Magic is also true"

"wait, you mean the Darkness is where true magic come from?" Lucy asked, Natsu nodded,

"allow me to explain, the One Magic is something that lives through all things, people, animals, nature, it is essentially the life force in all of us, when we use magic it draws power from the One Magic's endless supply and converts it into our own; however the One Magic is like two sides of a coin, there is the Darkness that Hades believes in and there is Light, a pure energy that is the polar opposite; this is where most spells derive from. Both light and dark must exist in order to form the One Magic" Natsu glanced at everyone, "the Flames of Hell that I possess can only be controlled by Darkness"

"then what exactly did you do in that final showdown with Hades?" Erza asked,

"you're asking about what I did with the magic at the time right?" she nodded, "as I said before when we use magic, our source of power comes from the One Magic that lives within us; what I did was gather magic energy from other sources of the One Magic and convert it to my own, very similar to how I eat fire to regain energy, however this time with raw magic, the result is what you saw"

"then is it true you are the Dragon King?" Gray asked, everyone looked shocked at the proclamation; Natsu looked to both Gajeel and Wendy who both gave him unsure looks, he sighed heavily before looking back at the group,

"yes, it is true" there was a moment of silence, trying to take in the words that were just said;

"EH!" everyone screamed out, they then proceeded to all ramble out questions, all talking over one another, all hoping to get their questions answered,

"QUIET!" a voice screamed out, all heads turned to the scarlet haired knight,

"none of our questions will be answer if we are all speaking at once, let Natsu speak" Erza scolded them,

"to answer some of your questions; I am both dragon and human and in regards to how old I really am let's put it this way, in body I'm seventeen years old, though in mind I am over a millennium years of age"

"so what exactly is your relationship with Wendy?" Carla called out, all eyes were now focused on the youngest Dragon Slayer, they were all taken back by her piercing gaze that it sent chills down their spines,

"Since Wendy has only explained her origin to Happy, Carla and Lily, allow me to explain to the rest of you" Natsu voiced, "Wendy and Gajeel, like me are also dragons in human form, they served directly under me back in the day" to say everyone was surprised was an understatement, they probably would not have believed Natu's words had it been not for the fact that some of them had witnessed firsthand as to what the other two Dragon Slayers were capable of, "however there condition is slightly different from my own"

"what do you mean?" Makarov asked,

"the difference is how we became human; Wendy and Gajeel were reborn into humans directly after death as a dragon; I on the other hand was transformed into one by Zeref"

"Zeref!" half of the group exclaimed,

"yes, the one and only; it was because of him I was able to live as a human for another four hundred years and be reborn as the person you see today"

"wait are you implying…" but Makarov never got the chance to finish as a loud roar echoed in the distance; Natsu stood up and looked at the sky, his eyes narrowed at the familiar sound, he was here,

"everyone get back to the ship" he called out to everyone, there was another roar this time louder, "now!" everyone looked up and there it was a monster gigantic in size, its massive black wings blocked out the sun, its claws ready to make its land on the island, they could see dark blue markings all over its body, letting out another roar it sent a powerful force that shook the trees around them,

"Acnologia" Macarov muttered,

"a dragon!" Gray called out, Natsu stepped forward looking up in panic; he cursed at himself, he still hasn't recovered enough strength to fight the powerful dragon head on,

"everyone get back to the ship, we don't have a chance against him" Natsu screamed out,

"Natsu's right, everyone get to the ship" Gildarts ordered, memories of his encounter with the dragon caused his wound to reopen. Everyone started to run, but stopped as their path was cut off by a massive tail, with a swipe, the dragons claw shattered boulders, trees and the earth beneath. Makarov stepped forward throwing his shirt behind him,

"Master!" the others called out,

"all of you get back to the ship, I will hold him off" he transformed into his titan form and tackled the dragon, everybody stopped moving, only watching in horror as their Master fought off the dragon,

"are you going to disobey your Master's final order!" he roared, they flinched at his tone of voice. Natsu stood firm, gritting his teeth, he looked back at everyone, his eyes darted to Wendy and Gajeel who both looked to him, as if awaiting orders; suddenly it felt as if the world around him slowed down, he could hear an echo in the distance, he turned and faced the sound, in the distance he could see a woman with light gold hair, she bore a deep resemblance to Mavis, he smiled to the woman and she smiled back,

"go" she said "it is time to tell the world, that you have returned"

"you know I'm going to lose" he responded, she maintained her smile,

"it's not about who wins or who loses" her voice was soft yet commanding at the same time, "it's about the message" and with those words he was thrown back. Making his way towards Makarov and Acnologia he began removing his scarf,

"Natsu!" Makarov shouted, "I don't care if you are the Dragon King or not, but right now I am your Master, so do what you are told!"

"Sorry Master, you can give me your punishment later" he replied, "Wendy, Gajeel!" his voice echoed,

"fall behind me!" almost smiling with glee they nodded,

"Yes, my King!" they replied,

"and the rest of you, if you want to help, then get ready!" the rest of Fairy Tail looked to the Fire Dragon Slayer, a little awed as he took command, "let us show this Dragon what Fairy Tail is made of!" everyone cheered and piled behind Natsu. Makarov shocked by his guilds behavior was suddenly thrown back reverting him back to normal,

"don't act so surprised old man" Laxus said helping his grandfather up to his feet, "do you honestly think Fairy Tail is the kind to abandon their own?".

* * *

Throwing back his scarf into Wendy's hands, he gave her a signal; she looked at him shocked and almost frightened by the order,

"Natsu-sama, you can't be serious about this are you?" she asked, Natsu nodded,

"break the seal"

"you haven't recovered yet! If you go through with this, you'll die!" they all looked to Natsu confused as to what he was trying to do,

"don't underestimate me Wendy, do you honestly think a small transformation will kill me?" he assured her, he then looked to the rest of the guild, "surround him and attack him with everything you've got, don't let him get a chance to retaliate" he ordered, they nodded before quickly running to position,

"Gajeel" the Iron Dragon Slayer looked to him; Natsu grinned, "do what you do best" Gajeel realizing what the king had ordered him to do, gave him his signature grin, before running off,

"how long do you need Wendy?" Natsu asked,

"four minutes" she replied, he nodded

"Happy, Carla, Lily" he called out to the Exceed, "I need you to try and support the others"

"What about you Natsu?" Happy asked,

"we can handle ourselves" Wendy looked to Carla giving her a reassuring look; with that the three cats flew off, leaving Natsu and Wendy alone,

"are you sure you want to do this?" Wendy asked,

"yes" she sighed knowing full well that nothing she said would be able to change his mind,

"then be careful my King" Natsu nodded before running off as well to face Acnologia. Taking a deep breath he materialized a pair of flaming wings on his back and flew towards the black dragon,

"Acnologia!" he called out getting the dragons attention immediately, "been a long time hasn't it" Acnologia didn't respond rather he lifted his claw and swiped at Natsu who dodged it easily; a rain of icicles and swords showered onto the Dragon, though the attack dealt no damage to him, it got definitely his attention, next he was struck by bolts of magic and lightning; Natsu quickly flew in front of Acnologia again and punched him with his flaming fist; with the continuous rain of attacks and Natsu ensuring that Acnologia's attention was focused on him, they managed to force the Dragon back; suddenly a cloud of blackness hovered above Acnologia, noticing this Natsu quickly created distance between the dragon and himself; the cloud of blackness shifted and formed into multiple shards of pointed blades; this was Gajeel's special ability, Iron Sand; he had the power to manipulate all metal in the earth and use it as his weapon, form objects at his will to come to his aid or to rain hell on his enemies. The iron blades bolted towards Acnologia penetrating his skin, his roar resonating in their ears; Natsu took this chance, bringing forth his hands a ball of red fire formed and expanded, and with a single blast the ball of fire split into millions of separate beams all exploding on impact against Acnologia, the apocalypse dragon was sent flying back; even if the two dragon slayers managed to deal significant damage to the dragon it was still futile as the massive dragon slowly got back to his feat;

"Natsu-sama!" he could hear Wendy call from behind him, "it's ready!" nodding he turned back to Acnologia,

"everyone back away, things are going to get hectic!" he called out, everyone fully knowing that they should heed the warning did as they were told, "Wendy do it!" and with that Wendy broke the last seal on Natsu's scarf, it radiated blue before turning normal again. Feeling a small load lift off his shoulders, Natsu breathed in the air, no, this still wasn't enough, the power he felt was nothing compared to before, Hades really screwed things up for him, but no matter; he flew up high into the sky, flames circling him, slowly consuming him, the orb of fire grew to a titanic size and then seconds later the orb blew open, a pair of fiery leather wings revealed themselves, and next a roar that resonated so loud that it sent shock-waves across the ocean, a black armored body descended from the skies, molten red glowed through the cracks of the armor, two pair of horns protruded out the back of the dragon's head and fierce red eyes looked down at Acnologia, a long pointed spiked tail swung gently behind him, claws clenched dangerously while his jaw widened revealing razor sharp teeth as he roared once more, the sound quaked across the world sending powerful tremors across all lands.  
Wendy gazed up in adoration, the sight of her King made her heart pound uncontrollably; while Gajeel could only smile in excitement as he watched his King descend from the heavens once again. Everyone else had only one thought running through their minds, a thought that this was no longer the boy that they all grew up with, laughed with, fought with; no, this was the Dragon King that once controlled the world, this was Dragon King Dragneel.


	10. Chapter 10

**And here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy. Your reviews really encouraged me thank you.**

**In regards to the final pairings I'll let it go on for a little longer, but it definitely will have Nali**

* * *

With one mighty roar Natsu dashed down towards land and tackled Acnologia into a field of trees, Natsu's claws crushing the black dragon's head beneath the earth; not letting himself be outmatched Acnologia swung his tail and flung Natsu away. Standing up the apocalypse dragon shook his head trying to regain his senses; his eyes glared at Natsu, charging towards him the black dragon raised his fist, dark energy began forming; bringing up his wings Natsu blocking the blow sending shock-waves around them, pushing the claw back Natsu revealed his own burning fist and sent it flying towards Acnologia.  
The Fairy Tail group all stood as far back as possible observing the battle that raged on between the two Dragons, they watched Acnologia be pushed back and next thrown across the island, Makorav noted how Natsu was careful not to bring the fight close to the Tenrou tree or where Mavis' grave stood, it seemed that he didn't want to cause too much damage to the island;

"hmm, it seems Hades really did a whole lot on Natsu-sama's magic power" Wendy muttered,

"what do you mean?" Lisanna asked,

"Natsu-sama is much stronger than what you are seeing right now" Wendy explained,

"I don't think that's it" all eyes on Makarov now, "I think Natsu's holding back his power" Wendy could believe that, knowing Natsu he wouldn't want to harm his friends just because he accidentally released too much power,

"if that's the case then I have a feeling Acnologia is holding back as well, but from the way things are going I don't think the black dragon will be doing that any longer" and just as Gajeel spoke those words Acnologia took flight, ascending high above the clouds, Natsu followed in pursuit; now only their massive ominous shadows were visible, their roars continued to echo into the distance; this was a battle that they would never forget.

* * *

Within the skies, the two Kings stared each other off, neither one saying anything. Then Natsu acted, he flapped his wings and with one swoop attacked Acnologia, giving out a roar the black dragon stopped the attack and pushed back, they were in stalemate now, but throwing Natsu aside Acnologia gathered dark energy above him, Natsu reacted by flying away; the dark energy blasted its way towards Natsu splitting apart into multiple particles and chased after their target. Natsu with his swift flying easily dodged the black beams but grunted as he noticed more coming his way, making a sharp left then right he flew in zigzags forcing the attacks to collide against each other, he made a quick u-turn and towards Acnologia who in turn began dashing away, now the two dragons were racing against each other each one attacking the other with their claws whenever they got the chance, Acnologia began forming dark energy once again, Natsu retaliated by gathering his own, a ball of fire formed behind him and by his command they split off, following close behind him, slowly the million bolts of fire circled around Natsu and by another command they began attacking Acnologia, the black dragon also attacked with his bolts of dark energy but to no avail as the circling bolts of fire intercepted each one protecting their master while Natsu's own attack struck Acnologia exploding on impact.

Back on Tenrou Island, Fairy Tail could only watch in amazement as they saw fire explode behind the clouds the two shadows dashed along the sky at high speeds that at some points they would lose sight of them. It was as if a powerful storm was brewing behind the clouds, it was terrifying yet mesmerizing at the same time,

"it looks like Natsu-sama has used one of his four" Wendy mumbled,

"four?" Lucy asked,

"Natsu has four spells that are considered to be legendary among the Dragon Race" Gajeel explained, they looked to him now, "you see those explosions up there and what looks like a trail of fire" their eyes followed to where he was pointing, "that spell is called Heaven's Wrath"

"Natsu-sama calls forth balls of fire to his aid, under his command they will protect him from harm or rain destruction on his foes" Wendy said, "but your all wondering what's so special about it right" they flinched back realizing they were caught red handed, Wendy smiled "a Dragon's magic is ranked based on how big of an impact it will make on the world; a single bolt from that spell has the power to level a city, now imagine millions of them" she waited as the information set in, "it has the ability to wipe out all life in a country"

"then what about the other three?" Erza asked, by this point almost afraid to get an answer,

"that's a secret".

* * *

Dashing through the clouds, the two Kings clashed against one another, their claws slashing through the thick air. Natsu noticing dark clouds in the distance flew into it with Acnologia behind him; now using the darkness and his superior speed to his advantage he circled around the black dragon striking him with his claws and tail whenever he got close; this continued for a good minute leaving Acnologia with scratches and bruises but with one roar the black dragon cleared out the clouds revealing the light, but there was no sign of Natsu, looking around he eyed his surroundings carefully when he realized a shadow looming over him he looked up. Natsu with his wings spread held up his arms a massive ball of fire forming above, flinging it down the fire consumed Acnologia imprisoning him. Black energy engulfing him, Acnologia released a nova of energy clearing the flames but this was able to give Natsu enough time to close in, striking the black dragon in the jaw with a flaming punch. Regaining posture Acnologia swatted Natsu back and fired his breath attack in four short bursts all of them hitting Natsu on the chest, the burns were minor his armored skin managed to withstand that attacks, next he was whipped across as Acnologia struck Natsu with his tail. Flung back Natsu felt his dragon form withering, if he wanted to end this he needed to end it soon. Eyes flaring Natsu gathered energy around his claws, spreading his wings Acnologia charged towards him dark energy gathering around his body; and with one swoop Natsu swung his flamed claws.

There was a loud bang high in the distance all onlookers looked up as a body dropped towards them, their hearts stopped for a moment, their eyes trying to see who had fallen, they saw black and blue, a small smile formed on their lips as they all jumped cheering. Acnologia came crashing down into the water; Natsu landed back onto the island, flames covering his body before he reverted back into human form,

"this is my limit" he gasped out, he was slightly irritated though, not being able to fully utilize his full strength felt incredibly restricting, as if there was something nagging him at the back of his mind; two more years, that was all he needed to be at his prime; he would need to be if he wanted to defeat Acnologia, he felt the Apocalypse dragon hold back much of his strength, though he was able to use this to his advantage. Suddenly there was an explosion erupting from the sea, Natsu watched the black dragon land in front of him, observing the dragons severe wounds he inwardly smirked, those would take a while to heal at least it brought him some time to regain his power,

"looks like this is your victory" Natsu called out to the dragon, Acnologia didn't respond only prepared his claw ready to kill his opponent.

* * *

Mavis Vermillion the first master of Fairy Tail, she was a very carefree individual having been raised by a rather carefree Dragon, the girl stood up from the branch of a tree looking down at the sight before her, eyes wandering around and spotted her beloved pink haired Dragon Slayer, the man who she considers to be her father; eyes widening as she watched him face the massive dragon, panic spread across her face, fully knowing that her Master had run out of magic energy, she was ready to interfere when she spotted a group of people running towards him, she held back and smiled at the sight, clasping her hands she prayed for their safety.

Acnologia let out one last roar, when suddenly his attention turned as a figure appeared behind him, a powerful bladed slash cut deep into the Dragon's left eye, the figure landed in front of Natsu, her eyes flaring with anger,

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my king!" Wendy roared, Acnologia shrugged off the sudden attack, but was hit by a powerful blast of ice and water,

"you alright Natsu?" Gajeel asked as he stood by his side,

"you know me Gajeel, it takes more than that to take me down" Natsu responded, Gajeel grinned; their relationship can be summed up as one thing, rivals. Despite Natsu being his king he always considered him his greatest opponent, but don't misunderstand, his loyalty to Natsu is unquestioned, he would rather die than betray his king, rather he considered Natsu's power a goal to strive for, a means to get stronger. The Tenrou team all piled in attacking Acnologia with everything they could dish out,

"All of you!" Laxus called out, "I want you to throw your strongest attack at him, and if you even think of saying 'that's all I've got', I'll kick your ass!" everyone smiled and began channeling their strongest spells. Natsu fell to his knees completely exhausted from his earlier fight, he then felt someone lift him up to his feet, looking; he came eye to eye with Lisanna,

" you need to rest, you've done more than enough" she said,

"not enough it seems, Acnologia is a lot tougher than what he makes himself out to be" Natsu responded,

"don't worry, we'll get out of this alive, all of us will" she smiled warmly at the Dragon Slayer who smiled back. Having been hit by the combined power of all the Fairy Tail members, Acnologia let out a roar ready to swipe them all away with his tail when suddenly both Wendy and Gajeel appeared before the Dragon's eyes; Wendy sent out gusts of wind whipping Acnologia to the side leaving gashes on his chest; next Gajeel controlling his iron sand formed a guillotine above the Dragon which came crashing down on him. As the smoke cleared, they could all see that the Iron Dragon Slayer's attack was blocked by Acnologia's wings but they left their mark as one large cut was sliced across his wings. Erza was in awe, and she was sure the others were feeling the same; all of their combined efforts did nothing to the Apocalypse Dragon, yet those three alone had managed to greatly wound him. Was this the power of a Dragon Slayer? No, Erza thought, this was the power of Dragon's. Natsu grinned at the fight, a small bit of pride built up as he watched his old companions rise up to face the foe that is considerably stronger than them. He didn't know why Acnologia was holding back especially knowing that if he continued to let Wendy and Gajeel attack him in such a manner they would eventually kill him. Was this a test? The Fire Dragon Slayer wondered; was it to see if he and his companions had the power to defeat him. Or was it just simply because he cannot take human's seriously. But with all these questions in mind Natsu knew one thing; Acnologia wanted to confirm his very existence. Chuckling to himself, catching everyone's attention as he and Lisanna made their way to the rest of the group,

"Acnologia has yet to unleash his full power" he explained to them, "he's toying with us" everyone with the exception of Gildarts who knew from the start, stood stunned by his words all looking afraid of the Dragon, "but that doesn't mean anything, because Wendy and Gajeel aren't using their full power either"

"what! Then they should stop toying around and finish him off" Elfman cried out,

"it's not that simple"

"out with it then" Gray shouted, "we don't have time for this" the others couldn't help but agree,

"Like me their powers are scattered when we were reborn, it takes time for us to gather it all back" Natsu explained, "and it took me two years to only gather fifty percent of my power"

"you mean you weren't even at your strongest when you fought Acnologia! Yet you did that much damage to him" Makarov cried out,

"you could say that, if Hades didn't temporarily drain away more of my powers, I probably would have been able to deal more damage to him" it was at this point did they truly realize just how powerful Natsu was, they could only imagine what he would be like if he was at his prime, but just thinking about it sent a chills down their spines,

"then shouldn't we help them?" Lucy asked pointing at the fight before them, Natsu shook his head,

"we would only be in the way" they were all surprised by how calm Natsu was, completely different from the hot headed, act before thinking individual they all knew, it was something that would take time to get used to, "do not underestimate The Sky Empress and The Iron Emperor, even with their limited powers they are still strong, but I'm not sure if they will be able to hold out much longer, especially with the little magic energy they have", all looked afraid for their comrades, mentally hitting themselves for not being able to help,

"Sky Empress and Iron Emperor?" Mira spoke up, Natsu nodded,

"Wendy and Gajeel's titles back when we were still Dragon's; they represent their status as rulers of the sky and earth". Back in the midst of the fight between the two Dragon Slayers and Acnologia, Gajeel cringed a bit as felt his wound open, he looked up at the rising dragon attempting to swat Wendy out of the sky,  
"this guy just won't quit" he muttered through gritted teeth,

"at this rate were both going to be out of magic power" Wendy called out, but that didn't matter as the Black Dragon, with his wings sent a gust of wind throwing both Wendy and Gajeel away. Natsu and the others sprinted towards their location, worry filled their features. Levy ran towards Gajeel and helped him onto his feet; she could see that his bandages were soaked in blood. Natsu managed to get Wendy back to her senses, he glared up at Acnologia who took flight, as everyone was trying to see if the two Dragon Slayers were okay Natsu stepped forward, taking a deep breath he began gathering energy into his body, Wendy eyes widening realizing what her King was about to do,

"Don't do it!" she screamed, all eyes know on Natsu, "Somebody stop him!" Erza, Gray and Elfman ran towards the Dragon Slayer but was cut off as a wall of fire separated them, Natsu looked back at them a strained smile formed on his lips,

"sorry guys" he said, realization struck them like a ton of bricks,

"you bastard, don't you dare!" Gray shouted,

"you're a hypocrite Natsu" Erza growled out, "wasn't it you who told me not to do such things?" Natsu froze not sure what to say,

"I guess you'll just have to beat me up after all of this is over" Natsu swallowed the blue orb of energy, a pulse of energy flared up from him, letting out a deep breath he calmed his nerves and stared up at Acnologia as the Dragon prepared his breath attack, channeling all power to his throat he chanted his spell,

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" an explosive blast of crimson orange fire erupted from Natsu's mouth, it was far more powerful than anything they've seen Natsu do before, the blast of fire shot towards Acnologia, getting closer and closer, but suddenly something went amiss for Natsu; cringing in pain he stopped the attack short and grabbed a hold of his chest, spitting out blood he fell to his knees. The wall of fire disappeared as Erza, Gray and Elfman dashed to his side with everyone else close behind,

"Natsu!" Erza cried out, Wendy pushed through the crowd and quickly got to healing Natsu who fell unconscious,

"he pushed his body far past its limits" she explained to the others, they noticed a light coming from above them, they looked up to Acnologia's raging attack, right now they could only wait for the inevitable. They joined their hands; their hearts and spirit were one. With one attack Acnologia launched a powerful beam from his mouth, it hit Tenrou Island; the impact was so powerful that it sent powerful waves across the ocean. Those that had gathered around the island could only stare in disbelief as they watched Tenrou Island be struck by such a powerful attack. They would never forget was has transpired here, the appearance of the Dragon that had outclassed the Dragon of the Apocalypse, the way the two clashed above the clouds, the thunderous roar, the wave of power that the mysterious dragon emitted. And with those thoughts Tenrou Island disappeared without a trace.

* * *

**And so ends the first Arc of this story, look forward to the next one coming soon**


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